Erosive wear behavior of sprayed metal matrix composites: An overview

Abstract

Metal matrix composites are being increasingly used in aerospace and automobile industries attributed to their improved properties such as elastic modulus, hardness, tensile strength at room and elevated temperatures, wear resistance combined with significant weight savings over unreinforced alloys. Because of these capabilities it can be applied for aviation industries, where the most critical areas of an aircraft to be affected by corrosion are engine inlets, control surfaces landing gear doors, radome, and aerodynamic fairings. They are subjected to wear and corrosion processes, which can occur simultaneously. This article critically reviews the present and past state of understanding of the erosive wear behavior of metals and alloy. First of all, the different types of reinforcing with different coated metal matrix composites are reviewed. The accuring failure mechanisms are discussed. This is followed by discussion of the essential features of erosive wear. Various predictions and models developed by different investigators describing the erosion rate are presented. Finally, the relevant areas for future studies are indicated.