The growing demand for composite materials with improved properties is attracting a lot of attention from industries such as automotive, aerospace, military, aviation, and other manufacturing. Aluminium metal matrix composites (AMMCs), with various reinforcements such as continuous/discontinuous fibers, whiskers, and particulates, have captured the attention due to their superior tribological, mechanical, and microstructural characteristics as compared to bare Al alloy. AMMCs have undergone extensive research and development with different reinforcements in order to obtain the materials with the desired characteristics. In this paper, we present a review on AMMCs produced through stir casting routes. This review focuses on the following aspects: (i) different reinforcing materials in AMMCs; (ii) microstructural study of reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) through stir casting. Both reinforcing micro- and nanoparticles are focused. Micro- and nanoreinforced AMMCs have the attractive properties of combination such asthe low-weight-to-high-strength rati and, low density; (iii) various tribological and mechanical properties with the consideration of different input parameters; (iv) outlook and perspective.

In the present research work, AA7075 composite reinforced with silicon carbide particles has been fabricated using Friction stir processing (FSP). The silicon carbide particles having a size of 40 μm were placed in grooves of length 160 mm, width 2 mm, depth 3.5 mm, that were generated on the AA7075 plate. The square pin tool is utilized for fabricating the composite at two different rotational speed i.e. 700 and 1000 rpm. Effect of processing, particle addition and tool rotational speed is analyzed on mechanical and wear properties of the material. On friction stir processing the microhardness value and elongation of the material increased. Reinforcement addition contributed to decrease in ductility and tensile strength while on the contrary microhardness and wear resistance of the material improved. Tool rotational speed showed a direct relation with the tested mechanical and wear properties. Adhesive wear was the prominent wear mechanism and Fe layer formation was observed on the worn surface, contributing to increased wear resistance. These fabricated composites can find vast application in industries like automotive, defence and aerospace.

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly growing technology with promising results and challenges. The aim of this study is to optimize the process parameters of fused deposition modeling (FDM) by exploring the wear performance of Polylactic acid (PLA). In this work, variation of process parameters like layer thickness, orientation and extruder temperature has been investigated. Based on these parameters wear specimen (accordance to ASTM G99) was printed by using FDM. The wear behavior of polymer pin under low sliding speed was investigated. Taguchi Design of experiments by using L₉ orthogonal array is applied to optimize the process parameters at which minimum wear rate is obtained and the same has also been investigated by using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and artificial neural network (ANN) technique for rigorous validation / optimization. Results shows that build orientation have major influence on the wear performance of polymer pin. The paper is presented with the display of results, discussion, and conclusions drawn.

This research work has been completed by concentrating on the structure of inserts for foot orthosis fabricated by utilizing rapid prototyping technology. Thermoplastic elastomer and thermoplastic polyurethane are the most commonly used materials that are being used in customized three-dimensional printed orthotic insoles, which are comfortable and prevent the user in many foot disorders. Thermo-softening viscoelastic polymers, explicitly Filaflex and Ninjaflex, have been printed by utilizing Flash Forge three-dimensional printers to evaluate the mechanical properties of specimens with alterations of the percentage rate fill-up design replicas. The results are compared on the basis of hardness test, flexural/bending test, and tensile test using Durometer and Universal Testing Machine (UTM). It has also been observed that the most significant effecting factor is infill density.

In the era of Digital Manufacturing and supporting state-of-the-art, i.e. Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is getting more popular known as 3D printing, AM has created its own space in the fastest growing industry. 3D printing has evolved in previous years, and now, it is being used in several social life domains. The main application of this process has found in prototyping, aerospace industry, biomedical and dental implants. Additive manufacturing prints a part in a layer by layer or line by line pattern. It opposes the basic concept of traditional manufacturing. Advances in composite and multi-material manufacturing provide new opportunities for the convenient manufacture of lightweight parts and modern products, such as flapping wings, satellite brackets, and lightweight components for the aviation industry. It is a particular technology that varies from conventional and subtractive development in terms of lightweight, enhanced features, lower fuel consumption, and optimized machine performance, so on. This paper addressed the progress of AM in the aerospace field and addressed the issues of AM linked to a specific aerospace component.