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Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 1140–1146 www.materialstoday.com/proceedings

5th International Conference on Materials Processing and Characterisation (ICMPC 2016)

Method of stir casting of Aluminum metal matrix Composites: A review

Ulhas .K. Annigeria* G.B. Veeresh Kumarb
a. Research Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore Campus,
Karnataka, India.
b. Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Bangalore Campus, Karnataka, India.

Abstract

Among the variety of manufacturing processes available for discontinuous metal matrix composites, stir casting is generally
accepted as a particularly promising route, currently practiced commercially. Its advantages lie in its simplicity, flexibility and
applicability to large quantity production with cost advantage. The major problem of this process is to obtain sufficient wetting of
particle by liquid metal and to get a homogenous dispersion of the particulates. The present review is on the method employed in
stir casting such as, how the base metal is melted, at what temperature and state it is to be maintained, what conditions the
particulates are added and how the stirring time and stirring speed affect the final composite material. The effect of stirrer design
and feeding mechanism has also been discussed. The variation in the type of mixing the particulates into the metal matrix has
also been dealt with in the paper. In the introductory part the stir casting methodology with a diagram has been laid out to give an
overview of the overall process of casting of metal matrix composites. The limitations of the process are also listed in the paper.
©2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Conference Committee Members of 5th International Conference of Materials
Processing and Characterization (ICMPC 2016).

Keywords: Metal matrix composites; Particulates, reinforcement, stir casting

1. Introduction

Stir casting process is mainly used for manufacturing of particulate reinforced metal matrix composite (PMMC).
It is a primary process of composite production whereby the reinforcement ingredient material is incorporated into
the molten metal by stirring. The stir casting of metal matrix composites involves producing a melt of the selected
matrix material followed by the introduction of a reinforcement material into the melt before adding the
reinforcement material the melt should be subjected to degasing by a suitable medium, because the molten metal
reacts with atmospheric oxides and undergoes oxidation by degrading the properties of the base material.

E-mail address: ulhaskrishnarao@gmail.com

2214-7853 ©2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Conference Committee Members of 5th International Conference of Materials Processing and
Characterization (ICMPC 2016).
 Ulhas.K.Annigeri/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 1140–1146 1141

The next step is the solidification of the melt containing suspended dispersoids under selected conditions to
obtain the desired distribution of the dispersed phase in the cast matrix. In the stir casting with bottom pouring
technique, the mold is kept just below the furnace with an opening at the bottom for pouring. This type of
arrangement enhances the incorporation of particulates and reduces the time of pouring. The reduction in time of
pouring and due to a better particulate introduction to the mold the composite properties are more nearer to
improvement.

Fig.1: Basic stir casting process [1]

Fig.1 shows the matrix material melted in a crucible by heating it in a crucible furnace. The stirring is activated by
means of a motor at the top of the stirrer. The stirrer can be moved up and down by means of a rack and pinion
arrangement. Reinforcement is added to the matrix after stirring the matrix material for a certain amount time.
Preheating is also carried out to avoid thermal distortion of the composite material.
Mixing techniques are used for introducing and homogeneously dispersing the discontinuous phase since most of
the ceramic reinforcement materials are denser compared to matrix alloy, otherwise the reinforcement material may
settle at the bottom of the crucible if not agitated properly. Mixing techniques generally used for mixing of ceramic
reinforcement into a melt are:
a. Adding particles to a vigorously agitated molten alloy
b. Injection of the discontinuous phase into the melt with an injection gun
c. Dispersion of pellets or briquettes of a discontinuous phase [2]
Stir casting is attractive since a conventional metal processing route is used and is the most economical route of all
the available routes of metal matrix composite production. The cost of preparing composite material using this
method is about one third to half of the other competitive methods, and for high volume production, it is projected
that the cost will fall to one tenth [3]. Some of the important factors that need attention during stir casting are:
a. The difficulty of achieving a uniform distribution of the reinforcement material.
b. Wettability between two main substances (matrix and reinforcement substances).
c. Porosity in the cast metal matrix composites.
d. Chemical reactions between the reinforcement material and matrix alloy [4].
e. Reaction of matrix and reinforcement substances with atmospheric elements

2. Review

Dr. Jameel Habeeb Ghazi et al., cut the Al alloy into small pieces for the purpose of weighing and calculating
weight fraction of silicon carbide by 5 percentage, and then the weighed pieces were placed in crucible inside
electric furnace at fixed temperature at (750 ⁰C) to ensure full melting of ingot, then the Silicon carbide ceramic
1142 Ulhas.K.Annigeri/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 1140–1146

particles enveloped by aluminum foils were added to the molten material after pre-heating to 250 ⁰C in order to
remove moisture, to avoid thermal mismatch and to improving the dispersion of particles within the melt. A small
amount of Magnesium was added to ensure good wettability of particles with molten metal. The electric mixer
enters in crucible furnace which spun rapidly at a speed of 900 rpm to improve homogenizing molten material for 3-
5 min, and then the molten material is poured into the pre-heated metallic mold. The authors concluded that the
hardness, ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of composites increased with increased addition of
reinforcements in the composites up to 20 weight percentage. The impact energy decreased with increase in addition
of reinforcement. There was uniform distribution of particulates as found from the microstructural study. The
specific reason for this to happen was the addition of reinforcement covered by aluminum foils and also the addition
of magnesium in the molten metal [5].

S. Balasivanandha Prabu et al., used mild steel impeller at a speed 500–700 rpm to stir molten metal and create the
vortex (vortex generates centrifugal forces through, because of which the secondary phase is thrown at the walls of
the crucible ensuring uniform distribution of particulates in the matrix) . The impeller blades were designed to create
vortex to achieve the particle mixing. Zirconium-based coating was applied to the impeller to minimize blade
dissolution in molten metal (further to avoid metal pick-up also to avoid reaction between molten metal and stirrer).
The molten metal was well agitated by a mechanical stirrer to create turbulence motion during the process.
Immersed impeller was at a depth of approximately 2/3 of the height of the molten metal from the bottom of the
crucible and the speed of the stirrer was set at 500/600/700 rpm. Average size of 60µm of Silicon carbide powder
was taken for this study and the calculated quantity of Silicon carbide was heated in atmospheric air at 800 ⁰C for 2
hours and was then fed at a constant rate into the root of the vortex. In order to form a layer of SiO2 on the Silicon
carbide, heat treatment was carried out, and it improved the incorporation of the Silicon carbide particulates into the
molten melt. The molten metal–Silicon carbide slurry was stirred continuously for the different combination of
processing conditions by varying the stirring speed and stirring time. The stirring time were noted at 5, 10 and 15
min after the addition of Silicon carbide during the process. The molten metal was poured into a mild steel die,
which was preheated to about 300 ⁰C. They found from the microstructural study that with lower stirring speed and
stirring time there was clustering and some places were found without particulate inclusion but with the increase of
stirring time and speed the distribution was more homogeneous. Higher stirring speed and time gave a higher
hardness of the composite [6].

Bharath V et al., superheated the Al6061 alloy to a temperature of 800 ⁰C in a Silicon carbide crucible. With the
help of a digital temperature controller the furnace temperature was controlled to an accuracy of ±50 ⁰C. A three
stage mixing with preheating was followed. Ceramic Al2O3 particulates were preheated to 200 ⁰C in an oven to
remove the gases and avoid temperature drop when added into the molten material. A vortex was generated using a
Zirconia coated steel impeller. The total amount of reinforcement was calculated and added to the melt in three
steps. Ten minutes of stirring was carried. The stirrer was also preheated and it was at a depth of 2/3 from the
bottom of the crucible. The stirrer was stirred at 200 rpm. It was concluded that a fairly uniform distribution of
Al2O3 particulates was obtained. The hardness, tensile and yield strength increased with increase in addition of
reinforcement up to certain weight percentage while the ductility decreased for the reinforcement under study [7].

K.K. Alaneme et al., dehydrated Borax by heating it to 250 ⁰C for 20 minutes which served as a wetting agent and
mixed with calculated amounts of Silicon carbide in the ratio 1:2. Furnace was charged with Al6063 scrap billets
and melting was allowed to progress at a temperature of 750 ⁰C which was above the liquidus temperature and then
it was cooled to 600 ⁰C which is below the liquidus temperature to a semisolid state. At this point of time the borax
mixed with Silicon carbide was poured into the melt and was stirred manually for 20 minutes. After manual stirring
the melt was again reheated to 750 ± 10 ⁰C and was mechanically stirred. The stirring was carried out for duration of
20 minutes at a speed of 300 rpm. It was concluded that the strength of the Al6063 matrix with 9 to 12 volume
percentage of Silicon carbide increased and there was also not much change in the ductility of the composite [8].

S. Suresh et al., heated the blower furnace by means of coal and charged Al6061 into it which was at a temperature
of 750 ⁰C and melted the material which was held at that state for a period of 20 minutes. The furnace temperature
was cooled below the liquidus temperature to keep the slurry in the semi-solid state. Drilling machine was employed
 Ulhas.K.Annigeri/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 1140–1146 1143

to carry out stirring at a speed of 450 rpm. At this point of time, the particulates TiB2 were added manually to the
vortex. During final mixing, the furnace temperature was maintained at 700±10 ⁰C and then the mixture was poured
into the mold to get the specimens for testing. They further concluded that, the micro hardness improved with
addition of reinforcement and there was an improvement in the wear resistance [9].

Tony et al., concluded that with proper modification in the stirrer design, like modifying the geometry of stirrer and
increasing the stirring force could achieve uniform distribution of particulates and reduce cluster formation
respectively. The modification in the feeding mechanism led to an improvement in the uniform and controlled spray
of particulates hence enhanced properties of metal matrix composites [10].

K.Umanath et al., melted the base material by stirring forcefully with the help of an automatic agitator to form a
whirlpool. The temperature maintained was 725 ⁰C. Subsequently after melting the material, degassing was carried
out with the help of nitrogen. Alumina coated stainless steel stirrer was used to stir at 600 rpm for 20 minutes. The
preheated particulates were introduced and the molten material was poured to a mold which was preheated to 250
⁰C, in the region of vortex to manufacture specimen after casting. They finally concluded that the optical
micrographs showed the homogeneous distribution of silicon carbide and aluminum oxide particulates in the Al6061
matrix material [11].

Kenneth Kanayo Alaneme et al., charged the gas fired crucible furnace fitted with a temperature probe with
aluminum billets and heated to temperature of 670 ⁰C until the melt was formed. Zinc was introduced after lowering
the temperature of the furnace to 500 ⁰C. The melt was cooled to a semi-solid state once the zinc had melted
completely (about 450 ⁰C). The melt was stirred at 200 rpm for 5 minutes to achieve homogeneity. The husk,
Silicon carbide and Graphite particles which were preheated were introduced and the stirring was done manually for
5-10 minutes. The semi-solid composite slurry was heated back to 530 ⁰C (superheated) and mechanically stirred for
10 minutes at 400 rpm. The molten material was poured into the mould for casting. They concluded that the
microstructure of 7 weight% - 10weight% of husk, Silicon carbide and graphite were similar. With increase in rice
husk ash reinforcement the hardness was found to decrease. A similar trend was observed for the tensile strength
and yield strength of the composite. Since rice husk ash is a softer reinforcement than Silicon carbide, and hence the
presence of increased amount of softer reinforcing particles, reduces the strengthening derivable from load transfer
from the matrix to the reinforcements [12].
Abhilash Viswanath et al., charged the AZ91 in a steel crucible which was a resistance heating furnace. The furnace
was maintained under a protective atmosphere of argon gas since the gas is inert. A steel impeller rotating at 750
rpm was used to melt the alloy which was maintained at a temperature of 750 ⁰C. Silicon carbide particulates having
a size of ~23µm which were preheated to a temperature of 600 ⁰C were added into the center of the vortex while
stirring. The different weight percentages of particulates were added and stirring was carried out for 10 minutes to
ensure complete mixing of reinforcement in the matrix. Finally, the melt was poured into a mold which was
preheated to 300 ⁰C to cast. The authors concluded that the method was effective up to 25 weight % content of the
reinforcement and there was a uniform distribution of particulates in the matrix with less agglomeration and had a
cleaner interface where agglomeration is the unwanted build up or lumping of powder reinforcement to one another
[13].
M S Raviraj et al., charged the Al6061 in a circular furnace which was maintained in a temperature range of 900 ⁰C
– 950 ⁰C. The crucible was made out of steel and the reinforcement powder was blended with an appropriate
quantity of flux (alkaline K-Al-F, scum powder) to ensure intimate dispersion prior to adding it up to the matrix
melt. In order to avoid defects in the cast, degas tablet Hexachloro ethane (C2Cl6) was added into the melt. The
mixture was left unstirred for 2-5 minutes which formed a liquid flux and floated on the surface of the melt. This
was removed using a ladle. It was then stirred at a speed of 700 rpm after cleaning out the slag to homogenize and
cast. The authors concluded that the fluxing promoted the contact between clean wetting surfaces since all of the
slag was removed from the molten mixture [14].

Himanshu Kala et al., talk about a two-step mixing method, where in, the matrix material is heated above liquidus
temperature and then the melt is cooled down in the range of liquidus and solidus temperature to a semi-solid state,
At this point the preheated particulates are added and again the matter is heated to above liquidus temperature and
mixed thoroughly to finally cast by pouring in the mold. The authors in their review also point out that the two-step
1144 Ulhas.K.Annigeri/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 1140–1146

mixing breaks the gas layer around the particulates and hence promotes wetting between matrix melt and
particulates [15].

Pardeep Sharma et al., charged 1000 grams of aluminum alloy in an electric furnace with graphite crucible where
the temperature was 900 ⁰C. A mechanical stirrer was used to form fine vortex. The Si3N4 particulates were
preheated in order to oxidize the surface of the reinforcement and were fed into the melt at a uniform feed rate. An
inert atmosphere was maintained using argon gas and the mixture was stirred. The inert gas was supplied till the
melt was poured into the preheated mold. The authors concluded that the density of composite increased from 2.69
to 2.75 g/cm3 after finding out the presence of Si3N4 particulates using SEM images and XRD analysis [16].

K.L. Tee et al., charged the aluminum to the graphite crucible. The crucible was brush coated with alcohol based
zirconium oxide. The furnace was vertical chamber and working under normal atmospheric conditions. The
Al+Ti+B mixture was preheated and manually stirred at 1060 ⁰C and then ramped the temperature to 1080 ⁰C. The
temperature was maintained for the reaction to occur completely. Argon was used to remove trapped hydrogen.
Dross was removed twice from the melt surface, once during holding and again just before casting. The composite
melt was cast in the graphite mold. A conclusion was made that there was a uniform distribution of the particulates
in the matrix [17].

J. Hashim et al., wrote that the stirring speed should not be too high and has to be continuous for few minutes till the
melt is poured into the mold by bottom pouring technique. Bottom pouring avoids impurities on the surface of melt
being cast into mold. The thoroughness of stirring is dependent on shape of agitator, speed of stirrer and also the
placement with reference to the bottom and the side walls of the crucible. The authors also say that the vortex
creation during melting will entrap gas and hence the reinforcement particles have to be introduced by injection with
the assistance of a carrier gas which is inert thus helping reduce defects in composites. The wettability can be
improved by some known methods such as coating the particulates, addition of alloying elements in the melt,
irradiation of melt and treatment of particulates [18].

A. R. Kennedy et al., heated the metal charges in a tube furnace in the temperature range of 750 ⁰C – 800 ⁰C in
Silicon carbide crucible which was clay bonded. With an appropriate quantity of flux the reinforcement powders
were tumble blended to ensure intimate distribution prior to sprinkling the mixture on the surface of melt. The
charge was not stirred for 2-5 minutes so that the flux formed a liquid and the reinforcement got transferred to the
melt. Using a ladle the liquid flux which floated on surface was removed. The mixture was then stirred for
homogeneous dispersion of the reinforcement in the melt after cleaning. Finally the melt was poured into mold and
cast. The entire fabrication process was completed in 15 minutes. The particulates got transferred to the melt since
the flux formed a liquid which rapidly enveloped the reinforcement. The oxide layer on the surface of the melt is
dissolved by the addition of the K-Al-F, cryolite type flux. The elimination of the oxide layer ensures the removal of
mechanical obstacle for the particle entry [19].

S. Gopalakrishnan et al., developed Al-TiC composite by enhanced stir casting method to minimize the production
related problem associated with conventional stir casting method. The temperature in the furnace was set to 30 ⁰C
above the melting point of AA6061 and cleaned matrix material was placed in the crucible to melt. With complete
melting of the material, the temperature was further raised up by 50 ⁰C to compensate for cooling effect due to
stirring. The reinforcement TiC was mixed with the melt in the form of a capsule (Covered by aluminum foil). The
method of two step mixing was adopted to promote thorough mixing of the reinforcement. One percentage of
Magnesium was added to the mixture to promote the wettability of TiC with aluminum. The inert gas argon was also
introduced while mixing Magnesium to the mixture in order to avoid molten aluminum reacting with atmosphere.
Preheated cast iron molds were placed at the bottom of the furnace to pour in order to avoid the difficulty associated
with the pouring of the molten material. Manual stirring was carried out during pouring as well. The authors
concluded that defect free composite was produced with good distribution of particulates after studying the SEM
photographs [20].
 Ulhas.K.Annigeri/ Materials Today: Proceedings 4 (2017) 1140–1146 1145

Mahendra Boopathi et al., focusses on Al2024 – SiC- Flyash hybrid metal matrix composite fabricated by stir
casting technique and reports that particulates were not uniformly distributed in single reinforced composites and
segregation of composites was clearly visible which they attribute to the gravity regulated segregation of
particulates. This was avoided with two reinforcements rather than one in their study which they clearly report in the
paper as they observe by observations through micrographs [21].

D.Siva Prasad et al., further add up that hybrid composites reinforced by Silicon carbide and rice husk ash
particulates show uniform distribution as compared to single reinforced composites by stir casting technique and
show up isotropic set of properties [22].

3. Conclusion

The stir casting method generally involves the heating of the matrix material to a melting temperature in a crucible
which is chemically inert to the materials that are going to be charged into it. The crucible can be of various types
and the most basic type being the coke fired. The furnace generally being used is the electric resistance furnace. The
particulates are preheated in order to improve its mixing with the matrix material also to avoid thermal mis-match.
The melt may or may not be stirred prior to mixing the particulates. The temperature of the crucible depends on the
alloy material being melted. The mixing of the particulates can be two-step or three-step which is a variation
depending on the weight percentages of the reinforcement. The mixing can be in semi-solid state or above liquidus
state. There have to be variations in the geometry of the stirrer and feeding mechanism to get a homogenised
material. An inert atmosphere may be maintained during stirring and pouring the melt into the mold in order to
avoid defects in the cast product. The problem of gas entrapment due to vortex creation may be avoided by
introducing the particulates by means of an injection gun with an inert gas carrying it. The wettability between the
matrix and the reinforcement has to be appropriate in order to get a homogenised composite. The overall conclusion
is that the microstructure of the so produced composite has a fairly good distribution of the particulates in the matrix
material. The properties obtained have achieved the tailor able characteristic of the composite material.
Further from the literature it may be concluded that the fabrication method, procedure adopted to form MMCs,
particulates temperature, degasing, stirring speed and duration, and pouring temperature of the mix and finally the
distribution of particulates etc. all have a significant influence on the final properties of the metal matrix composites.

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