Analytical Review of Reinforcement Addition Techniques during Ultrasonic Casting of Metal Matrix Composites

Abstract

A fundamental understanding of second‐phase reinforcement addition techniques during ultrasonic casting is necessary for the advancement of metal matrix composite manufacturing technology. This review evaluates the comparative efficacy of various addition techniques for incorporating reinforcements under the framework of ultrasonic processing. The evolution of these techniques over time is deciphered in light of the scientific background behind challenges, principles, and methods. Their role in the improvement of microstructure and properties of the composites, intertwined with ultrasonic treatment, is delineated. Techniques introducing greater kinetic disorder during solidification, such as “Stirring” and “Gas‐Assisted Injection” are found to be superior for reinforcement addition. More significant enhancement of microstructural and mechanical characteristics is also obtained in composites manufactured by the techniques with higher kinetics. This culminates in the identification of the limitations and perspectives on the progress of research in this scope. This analytical review of second‐phase reinforcement addition techniques operates as a tool for researchers to steer the advancement of future procedures and therefore metal matrix composite manufacturing technology.

Microstructural Evolutions under Ultrasonic Treatment in 304 and 316 Austenitic Stainless Steels: Impact of Stacking Fault Energy

“…This technique can be considered as an alternative for the annealing treatment because of some advantages, including the prevention of grain coarsening, thermal stresses, and formation of intermetallic phases, which are common during the thermal processes. [15,20,21] Several different microstructural evolutions, including recovery, [22] recrystallization, [23] grain refinement, [24,25] phase transformation, [26] and texture evolution, [14] have been reported by previous works as a result of ultrasonic vibration. Nevertheless, the influence of ultrasound in the mentioned phenomena has not been understood entirely yet, and there is a need to investigate these phenomena further.…”

Role of Ultrasonic Treatment on Microstructure, Multiscale Mechanical, and Tribological Behavior of 2D Tungsten Disulfide Reinforced Aluminum Composites

“…It is thus relatively simpler to disperse 3D spherical reinforcements in molten metal by ultrasonic casting. Consequently, about 94% of the ultrasonic casting literature reports on composites reinforced by 3D spherical particles, [ 5 ] such as silicon carbide (SiC) and aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ). In contrast, 2D layered platelets possess a higher specific surface area.…”

“…[1][2][3] The beneficial effects of ultrasonic cavitation pressure in deagglomerating and dispersing reinforcement particles in a molten metal can potentially be harnessed for processing aluminum and magnesium matrix composites. [4][5][6] However, it is necessary to systematically establish scientific correlations between key processing variables to develop ultrasonic casting process maps. These key variables are cavitation parameters, reinforcement characteristics, and composite structure and properties.…”

Ultrasonic-Assisted Dispersion of ZnO Nanoparticles to Sn-Bi Solder: A Study on Microstructure, Spreading, and Mechanical Properties

“…Ultrasonic treatment (UT) of molten metal has been reported by many researchers as one of the effective methods to disperse the NPs in Al and Mg alloys (Ref 10 ). The shock waves generated from the acoustic bubble collapse can de-agglomerate the NPs during dispersion (Ref 9 , 11 ).…”