DEVELOPMENT AND CHARACTERIZATION OF METAL MATRIX NANOCOMPOSITES OF ALUMINUMAND SILICON CARBIDE NANO PARTICLES.

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) constitute an important class of design and weight-efficient structural materials that are encouraging every sphere of engineering applications. There has been an increasing interest in composites containing low density and low cost reinforcements. Aluminum is a low density metal which is more advantageous in many applications due to a high stiffness-to- weight ratio. In a pure state it is soft and its strength can be increased by the inclusion of alloying element as well as the harder particles resulting in a high strength to weight ratio. Ceramic particles are very tough. Thus it is beneficial to improve mechanical properties and tribological properties. If Sic particles are distributed in the aluminum alloys uniformly it will give very good isotropic properties.