Review on metal matrix composites for marine applications

This paper reviews the possible Metal Matrix Composites of Grade 5 Titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) with Kevlar® and carbon fiber and their uses. These composites can be implemented in various industries like Marine industry as a hull material for naval warships, in the aerospace industry, in the defence sector and for the fabrication of various structures that require high strength and impact bearing capacity. Effective utilization of these materials in the above industries reduces the cost and size of the materials while increasing the performance in terms of strength, corrosion resistance, weldability and fabricability among other things. Due to the low density of the materials used, the performance of the vessels in terms of speed and manoeuvrability is also bound to improve.Fabrication of the composites is to be done by sandwich panelling using isophthalic resins. The various material properties of the composite such as hardness, modulus, chemical composition, adhesion and morphology are to be analysed. The work deals with the comparison of the above mentioned composites with the conventionally used shipbuilding materials. Thevarious results, on analysis, help us to infer the importance and efficacy of such novel composites in this modern age of mechanical engineering. These composites give us the combined advantages of strength and weightlessness coupled with the ability to resist corrosion thereby making it the perfect choice for various impact resistant structures with particular consideration towards marine structures.