Aluminium metal matrix composites (MMC) are perspective materials for wide range applications in automotive, aerospace and other industries where material mechanical properties and weight ratio is crucial. MMC manufacturing through metallurgical process two challenging tasks can be set – firstly, particle introduction into the melt and secondly, particle agglomerate dispersion. For the first task typical obstacle is poor particle wettability, while in second task particles added to a liquid metal tend to form agglomerates due to van der Waals and interfacial forces. Most of currently used manufacturing methods through metallurgical route are effective only for small quantities or are time consuming, so new MMC manufacturing methods are still needed.

By using electromagnetic field it is possible to induce liquid metal flows in contactless manner. Such approach allows to generate intense melt stirring and pressure oscillations in the melt through crucible wall without direct contact with the melt. In this work we present the latest results of usage of permanent magnet dipole stirrer for particle introduction into the melt and electromagnetically induced pressure oscillations for dispersion of particle agglomerates. It has been shown that travelling magnetic field generated by permanent magnet dipole induce intense liquid metal flows in the melt even through thick crucible walls. Depending on the application the flow can be adjusted by changing the rotating dipole size, position and rotation frequency. One of this research focusses is to use such stirrer for semi-solid alloy stirring. Combined AC and DC magnetic fields creates oscillating electromagnetic force which may induce cavitation in liquid metals. Cavitation bubble collapses are believed to be the mechanism of particle agglomerate braking and particle dispersion in metal. For some alloy / particle pairs the results are promising while other are not suitable for this type of processing.