Friction Stir Processing Of Intermetallic particulate Reinforced Aluminum Matrix composite

Abstract

Friction stir processing (FSP) is a novel solid state technique to refine the microstructure of metallic materials. The objective of this work is to apply FSP to change the morphology and distribution of intermetallic particles and achieve property enhancement. AA6061/8wt. % Al 3 Zr composite was produced by the in situ reaction of molten aluminum and inorganic salt K 2 ZrF 6 . Optical and scanning electron micrographs revealed a uniform distribution of needle shape Al 3 Zr particles in the aluminum matrix. The Al 3 Zr particles were located in the inter granular spaces. A double pass FSP was carried out using a tool rotational speed of 1200 rpm, processing speed of 50 mm/min and axial force of 8 kN. A tool made of HCHCr steel; oil hardened to 62 HRC, having a hexagonal profile was used. The needle shape Al 3 Zr particles were fragmented and converted into a spherical shape subsequent to FSP which resulted an increase in the hardness of the composite.

EBSD investigation of Al/(Al13Fe4+Al2O3) nanocomposites fabricated by mechanical milling and friction stir processing

“…In FSP, the SZ is plasticised, severely hot deformed at temperatures below melting and mixed with the introduced hard particles by a complex material flow. Thus, aluminium nanocomposites were fabricated with near uniform dispersion of hard nanosized ceramic (Mishra & Ma, ; Kashani‐Bozorg et al ., ) or intermetallic (Ashok Kumar et al ., ; Khodabakhshi et al ., ) particles in a fine‐grain restorated matrix. Separation of reinforcement from matrix and particle clustering are minimised using FSP.…”