Abstract
The present study investigated the combined effect of friction stir processing (FSP) tool pin and shoulder profiles on particle distribution and microstructure of AA6063/SiC composites. Two strategies were used, in first strategy, plain cylindrical, tapered cylindrical, square and triangular tool pin profiles were used with flat shoulder design. In second strategy square and cylindrical pin profiles were used along with clock-wise (CW) and anti clock-wise (ACW) scrolled shoulder design. Single pass processing was performed to fabricate the composites. Microstructure examination of sample processed with various pin profiles and flat shoulder design reveals that tool with square pin profile was most effective. Among other shoulder profiles, ACW scrolled shoulder resulted in pancake shaped stir zone (SZ) and exhibited significant improvement in SZ size, out of which ACW scrolled shoulder with cylindrical pin profile produced uniform particle distribution without any defects.
Highlights
IntroductionFor fabricating surface composites the matrix material is first preplaced with reinforcement particles
Friction Stir Processing (FSP) is based on the principle of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) developed at “The Welding Institute (TWI), UK” in 1991 [1]
Distribution of particles is better when square pin is used, but at the same time it leads to agglomeration of SiC in stir zone (SZ)
Summary
For fabricating surface composites the matrix material is first preplaced with reinforcement particles. The rubbing action of tool shoulder generates frictional heat and softens material under the shoulder which undergoes severe plastic deformation at high strain rate by the rotating pin and mixes the reinforcement particles in matrix. During FSW/ FSP, material is subjected to a combination of metal working processes e.g. friction, extrusion and forging [1,2,3,4]. One of the major challenges of the process, is inhomogeneous distribution of reinforcement particles. A large number of research works has been focused on achieving homogeneous distribution of
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call