SpARC (Specialized Aluminium Reinforced Composites

This exciting research project is focused on tailoring the microstructure of Aluminium Composite alloys in order to control the functional and mechanical properties of the material. The properties of Al can be significantly changed with the selective addition of filler and reinforcement material. Aluminium is light weight and has excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, whereas fillers such as mineral fibres, are insulators and can have EM shielding properties. When these composite alloys are processed using a variety of techniques the position of the filler material can be controlled thereby changing the directional properties.