The growing demand for composite materials with improved properties is attracting a lot of attention from industries such as automotive, aerospace, military, aviation, and other manufacturing. Aluminium metal matrix composites (AMMCs), with various reinforcements such as continuous/discontinuous fibers, whiskers, and particulates, have captured the attention due to their superior tribological, mechanical, and microstructural characteristics as compared to bare Al alloy. AMMCs have undergone extensive research and development with different reinforcements in order to obtain the materials with the desired characteristics. In this paper, we present a review on AMMCs produced through stir casting routes. This review focuses on the following aspects: (i) different reinforcing materials in AMMCs; (ii) microstructural study of reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) through stir casting. Both reinforcing micro- and nanoparticles are focused. Micro- and nanoreinforced AMMCs have the attractive properties of combination such asthe low-weight-to-high-strength rati and, low density; (iii) various tribological and mechanical properties with the consideration of different input parameters; (iv) outlook and perspective.
Keywords: aluminium alloys; composites; mechanical; microstructure; reinforcements; wear properties.