Production of MMC with the help of wire arc spraying for industrial applications

Machining tool manufacturers in automotive industry are facing continuously increasing demands in terms of component complexity, mass, rigidity and accuracy. Especially in the field of e-mobility, key components such as e-motor housing must be manufactured with very low component tolerances, as this has a direct impact on the efficiency and lifetime of the engine. In future, conventional construction materials and a monolithic tool design will no longer meet these requirements. Metal Matrix Composites (MMC) represent an interesting alternative material for this application. By using fiber reinforcement, both mechanical and thermal material properties can be improved compared to unreinforced metals. In this work, a manufacturing process for an MMC material based on a thixoforgable AlSi matrix and carbon fiber reinforcement is shown. This process consists of 2 steps. Firstly, the aluminum alloy is applied to a planar C-fiber fabric using wire arc spraying. Subsequently, the resulting prepreg is cut to size and then compacted by means of a thixoforming process. The MMC bodies produced in this way can then be used as a construction material to build a tool body.