Progress of Flake Powder Metallurgy Research

This paper reviewed several recent progresses of the new powder metallurgy technology known as flake powder metallurgy (FPM) including different processing routes, conventional FPM (C-FPM), slurry blending (SB), shift-speed ball milling (SSBM), and high-shear pre-dispersion and SSBM (HSPD/SSBM). The name of FPM was derived from the use of flake metal powders obtained by low-speed ball milling (LSBM) from spherical powder. In this case, the uniformity of reinforcement distribution leads to increased strength and ductility. Powder is the basic unit in PM, especially advanced PM, and its control is key to various new PM technologies. The FPM is a typical method for finely controlling the powder shape through low-energy ball milling (LEBM) to realize the preparation of advanced material structures. The present paper represents a review of the main results of research on FPM and indicates the potential for future studies devoted to the optimization of this processing route.

Regulating Mechanical Properties of Al/SiC by Utilizing Different Ball Milling Speeds

Advanced materials with high strength are in great demand for structural applications, such as in aerospace. It has been proved that fabrication strategy plays a vital role in producing composites to satisfy these needs. This study explores new strategies for flake powder metallurgy, with the aim of designing an effective strategy to achieve the highest possible mechanical strength for a metal matrix nanocomposite without changing the reinforcement fraction. Different strategies were used to regulate the mechanical properties for similar composites based on shift speed ball milling. Ultra-ductile composites on one hand, and ultra-strong composites on the other hand, were fabricated using similar composites. The results demonstrate that shifting the ball milling speed can be used to manipulate the mechanical properties of the composite to achieve the desired properties for any specific application.