A Few More Application

Discontinuously Reinforced Aluminum Has Come of Age

Building on breakthrough success in several applications, the ALMMC Consortium, a partnership of corporate, academic, and government participants, formed to expand the opportunities for a class of materials whose time has come: aluminum metal matrix composites. The efforts of the Consortium are initially focused on Discontinuously Reinforced Aluminum (DRA) materials, which are a class of metal matrix composites in which an aluminum matrix is reinforced with ceramic particles, whiskers, or short fibers. They have seen successful niche applications in the aerospace, automotive, electronic packaging, and recreational product markets. Significant examples include:

• Chevrolet Corvette and GM S/T pick-up truck drive shafts
• Plymouth Prowler brake rotors and GM EV-1 brake drums
• Toyota diesel engine pistons
• Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engine fan exit guide vanes
• Motorola’s Iridium Satellites and GM EV-1 electronic packaging applications
• F-16 fighter aircraft ventral fins and fuel access covers
• Bicycle components and golf clubs from a variety of producers

DRA materials have the potential for redefining the limits of aluminum materials because of their unique combinations of properties---the stiffness of titanium, better wear resistance than steel, and tailorable coefficient of thermal expansion, all while maintaining the light weight characteristics of aluminum. These properties, combined with continued development of low-cost processing methods, offer the potential for significantly expanded use.

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