Mechanical properties enhancement of cast Al-8.5Fe-1.3V-1.7Si (FVS0812) alloy by friction stir processing

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the capability of multi-pass friction stir processing (FSP) on microstructure modification and mechanical properties improvement of FVS0812 alloy. FSP was performed at different rotation speeds (1250, 1600, 2000, and 2500 rpm) and traverse speeds (8, 12, and 25 mm/min) for one, two, and four passes. According to the results, applying single-pass FSP at optimized conditions (i.e. 1600 rpm and 12 mm/min) enhanced the tensile strength, fracture strain, and microhardness of the alloy by about 1020, 1050, and 60%, respectively. This improvement can be mainly attributed to the intense breakage and uniform distribution of θ-Al13Fe4 and α-Al12(Fe,V)3Si intermetallics within the matrix, formation of ultrafine recrystallized grains, and elimination of casting defects. Increasing the number of FSP passes up to four slightly decreased the average size of intermetallic particles, but significantly improved their distribution within the matrix which led to 18 and 200% improvement of tensile strength and fracture strain of one-pass FSPed sample, respectively. The fractography results also revealed that multi-pass FSP has changed the fracture mode of Al-8.5Fe-1.3V-1.7Si alloy from low-energy brittle to a more ductile-dimple fracture.