Thermal spray manufacturing of semi-finished parts for thixoforming of fiber and particle reinforced metal matrix composites

Processing of light-metals in semi-solid state offers some advantages regarding process temperatures, handling of the material, but also the resulting micro-structure of the final component. Reinforcement of light-metal components with fibers or particles can be applied in order to increase elastic modulus and yield strength of the material as well as its wear resistance. But, the manufacturing of metal matrix composites by thixoforging requires the supply of raw material that shows thixotropic behavior at processing temperature and that contains a definite volume fraction of well distributed reinforcement phase. In this work, an arc wire spray process is applied for the manufacturing of semi-finished parts by coating of long-fiber fabrics and by deposition of ceramic particle containing billets. The process technique is described and the suitability of thermally sprayed matrix material for semi-solid processing is verified.