A review on manufacturability of magnesium matrix composites: Processing, tribology, joining, and machining

The effort to use magnesium-based materials is gradually increasing in various structural applications of automobile and aerospace industries because of their lower specific weight. This paper reviews the recent development in magnesium-based metal matrix composites and analyzes their mechanical properties. The process involving the synthesis of reinforcement during the composite development (in-situ process) shows improved properties because of a clean reinforcement-matrix interface, thermally stable reinforcement, and better wettability. The wear resistance of the material improves by the minute addition of ceramic reinforcement into the magnesium alloy matrix. The solid-state joining process is suitable for joining magnesium matrix composites. It overcomes the defects like reinforcement segregation, irregular re-inforcement distribution, porosity, and oxide formation that occurred during the conventional welding process. Machining of composites possesses certain difficulties like increased surface roughness and tool wear due to the presence of discontinuous ceramic particles. An effort to enhance the machinability of the materials has been illustrated based on contemporary literature. (c) 2022 CIRP.