Damping behavior of discontinuously reinforced Al alloy metal-matrix composites

High damping materials allow undesirable mechanical vibration and wave propagation to be passively suppressed. This proves valuable in the control of noise and the enhancement of vehicle and instrument stability. Accordingly, the scientific community is continually working toward the development of high damping metals (hidamets) and high damping metal-matrix composites (MMCs). The MMCs are particularly attractive in weight-critical applications when the matrix and reinforcement phases are combined to provide desirable property combinations, such as high damping and low density. Inspection of the available scientific literature, however, reveals that an understanding of the precise correlation between the presence of secondary phases (either reinforcements or precipitates) and material damping has eluded investigators, partly as a result of the superposition of multiple mechanisms. As a step toward the clarification of damping phenomena in discontinuously reinforced MMCs, this article describes the damping behavior and mechanisms that are present in discontinuously reinforced MMCs, with particular emphasis on particulate-reinforced Al alloy MMCs processed using spray atomization and deposition. The operative damping mechanisms in the particulate-reinforced MMCs are discussed in light of the data obtained from microstructural studies and damping capacity measurements.