Mechanical and microstructural characteristics of rice husk ash-reinforced aluminum metal matrix composite: A review

In the fabrication of composite materials, reinforcements are essential due to their longevity and performance. Nowadays, nearly every industry in the world uses composites rather than ferrous alloys to create lightweight mechanical components with enhanced properties of the raw materials. The current analysis illustrates the utilization of agro-waste materials as reinforcement instead of more conventional synthetic reinforcements. Rice husk ash, individually as well as with other reinforcement particles, has been studied to improve the tribological characteristics, hardness, tensile strength, bending strength, and other attributes of composites as they are being used to fulfill the demand of the current industry. The goal of this analysis is to examine the methods used to create an Al-composite in single and hybrid form with the RHA reinforcement particles. It also looks at how adding RHA as a reinforcing material in both single and hybrid modes improve the composite’s compressive strength, impact strength, hardness, resistance to wear, and ability to resist corrosion while lowering its density. The study reveals that the 5 wt.% RHA-reinforced sample had the lowest density, maximum hardness rating, and the least amount of porosity in single as well as in hybrid mode.