High-Strength Aluminum-Based Light-Weight Materials For Safety Components Recent Progress By Microstructural Refinement And Particle Reinforcement

High-strength materials on the basis of aluminum are attractive candidates for use in applications such as safety components that require high strength, high quality and integrity of various properties. In this paper, we discuss recent improvements in terms of property optimization made in the fields of (1) ultrafine-grained aluminum alloys prepared by equal-channel angular pressing, and (2) aluminum matrix composites with particle reinforcement. We discuss microstructural aspects and mechanical properties, as well as technological (processing parameters), wear and corrosion behavior. Our results highlight recent and potential for further improvements and for future applications of high-strength, aluminum-based materials.