(1.College of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China） (2.Qingdao Hachuan Advanced Materials Manufacturing Research Institute Co., Ltd., Qingdao 266000, China)
The metallic hollow sphere composite is a kind of porous and lightweight composites prepared by connecting the metallic hollow spheres randomly arranged in threedimensional space through sintering and casting. The structure of metallic hollow sphere composite is very unique. It has lots of functions, such as high specific strength, high specific stiffness, high energy absorption and impact resistance, high damping sound insulation, heat insulation and so on. It has a wide range of development space and application prospects in many fields, such as aerospace, shipbuilding, petrochemical, nuclear power generation, automobile and building, so it has attracted much attention. In this paper, the research progress of metallic hollow sphere composites at home and abroad was reviewed from four aspects: the preparation process, the properties of metallic hollow spheres and composites, the influence factors of the properties and the applications of metallic hollow sphere composites. On the basis of the summary of the present research situation, the existing research difficulties and hot scientific problems were analyzed and discussed, and the future research direction of the metallic hollow sphere composites was prospected.