Forging of Discontinuously Reinforced Aluminum Composites

Discontinuously reinforced aluminum (DRA) alloy metal-matrix composites (MMCs) represent an advanced aluminum materials concept whereby ceramic particles, or whiskers, are added to aluminum-base alloys through the use of either ingot-melting or casting and/or powder-metallurgy (P/M) techniques. This article begins with a summary of general observations on the forging of discontinuously reinforced composites. It provides information on some of the specific experimental results obtained on various DRA systems, including 2xxx DRA alloys and cast DRA alloys. The article reviews the efforts on the modeling of behavior of specific alloy systems, with a comparison of experimental results to the modeling attempts. It concludes with information on the properties of deformation-processed DRA alloys.