REVIEW PAPER Synthesis and Characterization of TiB 2 Reinforced Aluminium Matrix Composites: A Review Narendra Kumar 1,4 . Gaurav Gautam 2 . Rakesh Kumar Gautam 3 . Anita Mohan 2 . Sunil Mohan 4 Received: 25 May 2015 / Accepted: 10 August 2015 Ó The Institution of Engineers (India) 2015 Abstract Aluminium–matrix composites (AMCs) are developed to meet the demands of light weight high per- formance materials in aerospace, automotive, marine and other applications. The properties of AMCs can be tailored suitably by combinations of matrix, reinforcement and processing route. AMCs are one of the most attractive alternatives for the manufacturing of light weight and high strength parts due to their low density and high specific strength. There are various techniques for preparing the AMCs with different reinforcement particles. In AMCs, the reinforcements are usually in the form of metal oxides, carbides, borides, nitrides and their combination. Among the various reinforcements titanium di-boride (TiB 2 ) is of much interest due to its excellent stiffness, hardness, and wear resistance. This paper attempts to provide an over- view to explore the possibilities of synthesizing titanium di-boride reinforced AMCs with different techniques. The mechanical and tribological properties of these composites have been emphasized to project these as tribo-materials. Keywords Aluminium matrix composite Á TiB 2 Á Mechanical properties Á Tribological properties Introduction Metal–matrix composites (MMCs) consist of at least two or more physically and chemically distinct phases suitably distributed to provide properties not achievable with either of the individual phases. In MMCs, generally a metal or alloy is used as matrix phase and the reinforcement may be metallic or ceramic. MMCs are mainly of three types viz., particle reinforced, short fiber or whisker reinforced and continuous fiber or sheet reinforced MMCs [1]. Generally, aluminium, magnesium, titanium, copper and their alloys are used as a matrix. The reinforcements are commonly used in the form of fibers, whiskers and particulate of different metal oxides, nitrides and carbides [2, 3]. Particle reinforced MMCs are preferred over fiber reinforced materials, mainly due to ease of processing, lower fabri- cation cost and isotropic properties [4–7]. The properties and structure of MMCs can be controlled by the form, size and shape of the reinforcement, however, nature of bond- ing between the matrix and reinforcement also affects the overall properties [3, 8–11]. With increasing demand for light weight and high per- formance materials in aerospace and automotive industries aluminium–matrix composites (AMCs) are gaining rather more importance and to fulfill these demands different manufacturing techniques with various ceramic reinforce- ments have been used. AMCs have already replaced or replacing conventional alloys in many applications due to excellent combination of other properties such as high wear resistance, low thermal expansion, and high strength– weight ratio, etc. [12–15]. Unique combination of such & Narendra Kumar narendra.dharwan@gmail.com 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Bundelkhand Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jhansi 284 128, India 2 Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi 221 005, India 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi 221 005, India 4 Department of Metallurgical Engineering, Centre of Advanced Study, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi 221 005, India 123 J. Inst. Eng. India Ser. D DOI 10.1007/s40033-015-0091-7