Recent Development in Aluminum Matrix Composite Forging: Effect on the Mechanical and Physical Properties

Abstract

The industrial world requires advanced materials that have good mechanical properties, e.g., hardness with light weight, high toughness and high tensile strength characteristics. One of the known materials that is widely used and developed today is metal matrix composite (MMC). In general, metal matrix composite is produced by casting and powder metallurgy techniques. Metal matrix composites are one of the most promising materials for the future considering its design and performance. There are several potential applications for metal matrix composite in industries, i.e., the automotive, manufacturing process, aerospace, sports instrument, and the recreation industry. To maximize these advantages, metal forming processes are carried out in composites, such as forging, rolling and extrusion with the aim of improving their properties, minimizing porosity, obtaining shapes and sizes as needed, improving interfacial bonds between matrix and reinforcement. Based on state-development study in this work, it was found that the hardness and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the composite would increase after forging. Nevertheless, the ductility of the composite decreased after forging. The grain size will be reduced after the forging process and it becomes small after the forging process due to recrystallization during the forging deformation. As follow-up of this technical trend, this paper is extended to review various researches related to the effect of forging on the properties of aluminum matrix composites.