Advanced research progresses in aluminium metal matrix composites: An overview

Abstract

Composite materials continually displace traditional materials in engineering. A composite material is a combination of two or more phases that are chemically distinct and insoluble; its properties and structural performance are superior to those of the constituents acting separately. The extensive use of composites will contribute to significant material and energy savings and, in several cases, it minimizesenvironmental pollution. Aluminium and its alloys occupy a third largest place among the commercially used engineering materials. New materials used in recent times are the aluminium metal matrix and hybrid composites (AMMHCs), which have the capacity to meet the demand for advancement in processing applications. Composites of aluminium matrix offer improved mechanical and tribological properties over conventional metals and are currently considered as potential lightweight material and well suited in the automotive, space, aircraft, defense, and other engineering sectors. Because of its high strength to weight ratio, high tensile strength, durability, high wear resistance it pursued composites of the metal matrix. In the preparation of metal matrix composites, several factors need to be considered, including the difficulty of achieving a uniform distribution of matrix reinforcement, high processing costs with methods other than casting, availability of low-cost reinforcement and, if required, composite machining after fabricating of product. The most widely used reinforcement materials in recent times are SiC, Al2O3, TiB2, B4C along with some fewer research reported on organic powders such as fly ash, rice husk, coconut husk, lignite ash to achieve a better combination of properties. The present paper reviews the recent development for the manufacturing of AMMCs, various processing methods, processing parameters, and mechanical propertiesto the synthesis of AMMCs composites.