A Brief Review on Additive Manufacturing Processes for Lightweight Metal Matrix Composites

Many additive manufacturing (AM) processes have been developed to fabricate lightweight metal matrix composites (LMMCs) from constituents’ materials. However, the improvement in mechanical properties is significantly affected by the added reinforcing materials in the light metal matrix compared to metallic materials and their alloys. Recent advances in understanding the selecting criteria and effect of the reinforcement, preparation methods, and additive manufacturing process on the properties of LMMCs are summarized. The preparation methods of particle-reinforced LMMCs include ex-situ and in-situ synthesizing. The effect of various reinforcement and AM processes such as powder bed fusion (PBF) processes and direct energy deposition (DED) processes on the mechanical properties of LMMCs parts are discussed.