Particle reinforced MMC’s are now being produced commercially and in this paper the various processing techniques used for the production of aluminium composites and factors affecting their quality are overviewed. The various techniques like powder metallurgy, spray deposition, molten metal infiltration, molten metal mixing, liquid metallurgy, compo-casting technique etc. The factors affecting the uniform dispersion of the composites and the various properties of the metal matrix composites are also discussed.
Aluminium alloy matrix particulate composites having a wide variety of properties can be prepared by liquid metallurgy technique by choosing a suitable second phase particle system. The earlier problem of non-uniformity of distribution of second phase particles in casting is now overcome. The particle size can vary from 50-250mm and 3% Mg to be added to matrix alloy. Graphite, coconut shellchar, zircon, flyash and glass particles dispersed aluminium matrix alloy composites have a high potential for automotive and structural applications. These composites are now becoming cheaper and will enable users to choose right type of composites for their applications.
