Mechanical Behavior and Fabrication Characteristics of Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite Alloys

摘要

THE DEVELOPMENT OF metal composites has been a major breakthrough in materials in the last twenty years. The quantum leap in recent years has clearly established their potential for weight-critical applications in engineering components and structure in aerospace. Most of the attention, in the last decade, has been focused on aluminum as metal matrix because of its light weight, good mechanical properties and formability, economy and high resistance to environmental degradation. Aluminum alloys with tensile strengths as high as 687 Mpa and with excellent resistance to corrosion are now available. Aluminum has capability of incorporating a wide variety of reinforcing agents, such as Al_2O_3, graphite fibers, whiskers, SiC and other particles. Aluminum alloys have an inherent compatibility with seawater and a good history in handing steam and high purity water in power plants and applications in process industry.