Studies on magnetic moulding of al sicp metal matrix composites

Abstract

Casting is a process used for the production of metal components in manufacturing industries from ancient times. It is the first step in the manufacturing of metal components in most of the production industries. There is a significant transformation from homogeneous materials to composite materials in modern day industries due to the need of high performance materials for different applications. This transformation is made possible with the recent advent in material science. There are a number of manufacturing techniques available to process these materials that include Powder metallurgy, Diffusion bonding, Sand casting, Squeeze casting, Rheo casting, Liquid infiltration, Magnetic moulding etc. The Powder metallurgy technique is capable of giving relatively good surface finish, but the size of the component that can be manufactured is limited. In Rheo casting, although the amount of porosity is less, the skill required by the operator is higher; diffusion bonding can produce complex shapes but initial setup cost is high; liquid infiltration is economically cheaper process but it produces composites with low mechanical properties. Sand casting is the most extensively used technique. However, sand casting technique is associated with various drawbacks such as poor thermal conductivity, pollution due to burning of binders, more solidification time and hence slow production rate. In order to overcome such limitations, a method named as magnetic moulding is used for processing of composites in this research work. newline