Fabrication of metal matrix composites: a review

Traditional Metal Matrix Composites on micron scale offer opportunities to tailor material properties such as hardness, tensile strength, ductility, density, electrical and thermal resistance, wear strength. After the advancement of nanotechnology, it was applied on traditional metal matrix composites and with this vision, MMC on Nano-scale has overcome all the limitations of traditional MMC. For example Carbon Nanotubes exhibit ultrahigh strength and modulus. In the past decades many research work has done in polymer matrix Nano-composites and have various applications. Metallic composites having nanoparticles can offer excellent properties over polymeric composites due to its inherent temperature stability, high wear resistance, high strength, high modulus, high thermal and electrical conductivity. MMC has great potential of application in every field but there use is very limited due to their high cost and difficulties in fabrication. The major issue of concern withthe fabrication of MMC consistsin the low wettability of the reinforcement phase by the molten metal and that’s why they cannot fabricate by conventional casting method. Although many alternatives techniques have been developed for the production of MMC. In this paper we will review the various important methods of fabrication of Metal Matrix Composites.