Solidification Processing of Magnesium Based In-Situ Metal Matrix Composites by Precursor Approach

Abstract

In-situ magnesium based metal matrix composites (MMCs) belong to the category of advanced light weight metallic composites by which ceramic dispersoids are produced by a chemical reaction within the metal matrix itself. In-situ MMCs comprised uniform distribution of thermodynamically stable ceramic dispersoids, clean and unoxidized ceramic-metal interfaces having high interfacial strength. In last two decades, investigators have been collaborating to explore the possibility of enhancing the high temperature creep resistance performance in polymer-derived metal matrix composites (P-MMCs) by utilizing polymer precursor approach. A unique feature of the P-MMC process is that since all constituents of the ceramic phase are built into the polymer molecules itself, there is no need for a separate chemical reaction between the host metal and polymer precursor in order to form in-situ ceramic particles within the molten metal. Among the different polymer precursors commercially available in the market, the silicon-based polymers convert into the ceramic phase in the temperature range of 800–1000°C. Therefore, these Si-based polymers can be infused into molten Mg or Mg-alloys easily by simple stir-casting method. This chapter mainly focuses on understanding the structure–property correlation in both the Mg-based and Mg-alloy based in-situ P-MMCs fabricated by solidification processing via polymer precursor approach.