Fabrication of AA1050/B4C surface composite by friction Stir processing (FSP) and investigation on mechanical and wear characteristics

Abstract

Friction stir processing (FSP), derived from the friction stir welding (FSW) process, is an energy efficient processing technique to fabricate surface composite. In the present study, FSP technique is applied for the development of surface composites, using AA1050 aluminum as base metal and Boron Carbide (B4C) powder as reinforcement particles. The mechanical and wear characteristics were compared with the base metal characteristics. Pin-less tool for capping pass and threaded cylindrical pin tool for subsequent passes was used for FSP experiments. Tool rotational speed and traverse speed were kept 1400 rpm and 25 mm/min respectively. It was observed that the Friction stirred processed (FSPed) specimens with B4C particles showed higher hardness (45 VHN) in comparison to the base material hardness (25 VHN).Wear behavior of the fabricated surface composite has been investigated using linear reciprocating tribometer. Wear resistance of fabricated surface composite has shown significant improvement in comparison to that of the base metal.