Investigation of Mechanical Properties of Aluminium Based Metal Matrix Composites

Abstract

There is an increasing demand for lightweight structures in day-to-day life. Many of the technologies we use today, depend on materials with unique combinations of qualities that are not available in traditional metal alloys, ceramics, or polymeric materials. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are generating a lot of attention due to the ongoing demand for structural components with excellent strength, rigidity, and low weight. MMCs continue to be in their early stage of development despite being decades old because there are numerous ways to include reinforcements within the matrix. MMCs are composed of at least two phases that differ in both physical and chemical properties. Due to the incorporation of high strength and high modulus ceramic reinforcements into the alloy matrix, MMCs are now widely acknowledged as a significant class of composite materials. Aluminium-based metal matrix composites (AMMCs) are the most commonly used MMC in the automotive and aerospace applications. AMMCs consist of aluminum as the matrix material, and reinforcing component/s, which is/are nonmetallic and made of common ceramics like Al2O3, B4C, SiC, C, B, TiB2, BN, etc. Many studies are currently being conducted to enhance the physical and mechanical characteristics of the existing materials and to develop novel MMC structures, which could distinguish them as the next generation of materials. Numerous researchers have contributed to the area of AMMCs containing particulate reinforcements by using the stir casting technique. However, the production of AMMCs by stir casting method is challenging due to problems like particle size distribution, wettability, and casting porosity. In this regard, it is a necessity to fabricate low-weight and high-performance MMCs for the desired properties with different types of reinforcements with different weight fractions. The current research focuses on the development of metal matrix composites to fulfill emerging and advanced industrial requirements using titanium diboride (TiB2) particle reinforce