Abstract:
Aluminium alloys have been used in advanced applications because of their
combination of high strength, low density, durability, machinability and cost. These
properties make it a very attractive compared to other materials. Among the
aluminium alloys, Al-5Si, Al-4Mg and RR58 are commonly put in to use such as
constructing aircrafts, wheels, roofing materials, sports goods etc. Aluminium in its
pure form and as alloy has been reinforced with silicon carbide particulate and
commonly exist in various applications. In the field of metal matrix
composites(MMCs), particle reinforced matrix materials have been considered to be
a viable alternative for steel in automobile, machine building and aircraft industries
due to its higher stiffness ratio, improved wear resistance, superior fracture
toughness etc., Aluminium MMCs with silicon carbide (SiCp) and aluminium Oxide
(Al2O3) as reinforcement have significant advantage over conventional materials.
The inclusion of hard particles in the ductile matrix materials by and large, improves
the mechanical and metallurgical properties, but ductility decreases to a lesser
extent. These MMCs are fabricated by employing several techniques such as powder
metallurgy(P/M), liquid metallurgy and squeezing-casting.
