Performance of Stainless Steel AlSi 304 Wire Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites Made Using Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing in Bending

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) is a solid-state additive and subtractive manufacturing process that utilizes ultrasonic energy to produce layered metallic parts. The process is easily extended to create advanced multi-material structures, e.g., metal matrix composites, functionally graded metallic components, and shape memory alloys. This research utilizes a three point bending test to compare the elastic modulus in metal matrix composites (MMC’s) specimens consisting of stainless steel wire reinforcements with an aluminum matrix to unreinforced test specimens; both specimens are produced by UAM. In the MMC the volume fraction of wire is relatively low, 0.77%, yet yields an average increase in modulus of 8.9%.