Effect of Micro and Nano Reinforcement Materials on Mechanical and Electrochemical Properties of Aluminum Matrix Composites

The present review work is aimed toward comparatively study the effect of reinforcement particle size (micro and nano-size) on the mechanical and electrochemical properties of Aluminium matrix composites (AMCs). The review works also focus on the effect of fabrication process routes and their corresponding process parameters on the mechanical and electrochemical properties of both Aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) and Aluminium matrix nano-composites (AMNCs). In case of fabrication process route comparison, both liquid state (stir casting) and solid state (powder metallurgy) processes have been considered. It is studied that the stir casting process provides good mechanical strength and electrochemical properties in comparison to powder metallurgy process irrespective of weight fraction of matrix and reinforcement material. However, nano-sized reinforcement material improves more mechanical and electrochemical properties of composites as compared to micro-sized reinforcement material irrespective of their weight fraction of reinforcement. It is also studied that type and weight fraction of reinforcement material in the matrix phase are highly responsible for the improvement of mechanical properties of AMCs irrespective of micro and nano-sized reinforcement material and the fabrication process.