147
Vol. 01, Iss. 4 (2023) 147-158, DOI: 10.61552/JME.2023.04.002
Journal of Materials and
Engineering
www.jme.aspur.rs
Characteristics of Al6061-SiC-Al
2
O
3
Surface Hybrid
Composites Fabricated by Friction Stir Processing
Muna Khethier Abbass
a,
*, Noor Alhuda Baheer Sharhan
a
a
Production Engineering and Metallurgy Department, University of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq.
Keywords:
Aluminum alloy
Al2O3 and SiC particles
Hybrid composites
Friction stir processing
Wear behavior
A B S T R A C T
Friction stir processing (FSP) has successfully evolved as an alternative
technique of fabricating metal matrix composites. (MMC). FSP has been used
positively to produce surface composite that offer good surface properties
such as higher hardness and wear resistance, also help in the development
of finer-grain structure during thermomechanical processing of the
material. This work aims to fabricate a surface composite upon the AA6061-
T6 Al alloy via FSP. The effect of SiC and/or Al2O3 particles on
microstructure, microhardness, and wear behavior of the surface composite
was investigated. Many drilled holes were made to incorporate the ceramic
particles within the matrix at the optimal friction stir processing
circumstances, The optimal parameters of (FSP) were (32 mm ̸min), (1250
rpm), and (2) passes in a similar track.. It was obtained that the maximum
microhardness being in the stir zone center of FSP of the base alloy and all
composites. The results of XRD and EDX mapping confirmed the
incorporation of SiC and Al2O3 particles within the surface of Al alloy using
FSP which will improve the surface properties. The improvement in
microhardness was (89.3%) in the case of FSP composite sample reinforced
with hybrid addition (SiC+Al2O3) particles in comparison to FSP
unreinforced base alloy (75 HV). It was showed that the wear resistance of
the FSP composite sample reinforced with hybrid addition of (Al2O3 and
SiC ) particles was slightly better than that of the FSP composite sample
reinforced with single Al2O3 or SiC particles and base Al alloy.
© 2023 Journal of Materials and Engineering
* Corresponding author:
Muna Khethier Abbass
E-mail:
muna.k.abbass@uotechnology.edu.iq
Received: 1 March 2023
Revised: 30 March 2023
Accepted: 21 April 2023
1. INTRODUCTION
Friction stir processing (FSP) is a lately evolved
solid-state treating method that is a variant
form the Friction Stir Welding (FSW) method
initiated in 1991 at The Welding Institute (TWI)
[1]. The softening and plasticization of base
metal occur due to frictional heat generation
between the rotating tool and the workpiece.
Therefore, the mixing action of material and the
thermo-mechanical feature of the procedure
are likely to incorporate particles as a second
phase within the (SZ) and create a surface
composite [2, 3]. The micro and nano