Mechanical and Microstructural Characterization of Friction Stir-Welded AA2219: TiCp-Reinforced Composites

Abstract

Light materials having high strength-to-weight ratio plays a vital role in material science especially in the field of aerospace, marine transportation, military and structural applications. Composite serves the same. Aluminium matrix composite (AMC) is the aluminium matrix which has high strength-to-weight ratio. The purpose of the work is to investigate the mechanical properties of welded AA2219 aluminium alloy reinforced with titanium carbide particles (TiCp). Aluminium matrix is reinforced with TiCp using modified stir casting process. Optical colour graphs, XRD and EDX analysis reveal the presence of TiCp in cast AMC. Tensile test shows the ultimate tensile strength increases with the percentage of TiCp addition. Cut samples of size 100 mm X 50 mm X 6 mm cast AMC were friction stir welded using response surface modelling. Ultimate tensile strength and joint efficiency were calculated for the weld samples, and the effects of input parameters were investigated. Experimental results indicate that tool pin profile has a significant effect on tensile strength of friction stir-welded joints followed by welding speed. It is evident from the response that tool rotational speed had the least effect on ultimate tensile strength. The calculated joint efficiency of the most weld samples was more than 90% with respect to the ultimate tensile strength of the base metal. This work ensures defect free, high efficiency welded joints produced using a wide range of process parameters and recommends parameters for producing best joint tensile properties.