Abstract:
Metal matrix composites (MMC) are one of the advanced materials widely used for aerospace,
automotive, defense, and general engineering applications. MMC can be tailored to have
superior properties such as enhanced high-temperature performance, high specific strength and
stiffness, increased wear resistance, better thermal and mechanical fatigue, and creep resistance
than those of unreinforced alloys. To fabricate such composites with ideal properties, the
processing technique has to ensure high volume fraction of reinforcement incorporation,
uniform distribution of the reinforcement, and acceptable adhesion between the matrix and the
reinforcing phase without unwanted interfacial reactions which degrades the mechanical
properties. A number of processing techniques such as stir casting/vortex method, powder
metallurgy, infiltration, casting etc. have been developed to synthesize MMC employing a
variety of alloy and the reinforcement’s combinations. Among these, infiltration process is
widely used for making MMC with high volume fraction of reinforcements and offers many
more advantages compared to other conventional manufacturing processes. The present paper
critically reviews the various infiltration techniques used for making the MMC, their process
parameters, characteristics, and selected studies carried out worldwide and by authors on the
development of metal ceramic composites by squeeze infiltration process
