Original Research Article Synthesis and characterization of titanium carbide particulate reinforced AA6082 aluminium alloy composites via friction stir processing A. Thangarasu a, *, N. Murugan b , I. Dinaharan c , S.J. Vijay d a Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sri Ramakrishna Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641010, Tamil Nadu, India b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore 641014, Tamil Nadu, India c Department of Mechanical Engineering, V V College of Engineering, Tisaiyanvilai 627657, Tamil Nadu, India d School of Mechanical Sciences, Karunya University, Coimbatore 641114, Tamil Nadu, India 1. Introduction Aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) have gained more attention and research focus due to their excellent properties such as high specific strength, superior wear resistance and low thermal expansion. AMCs are widely replacing conven- tional aluminium alloys in many applications and compo- nents in aircraft, automotive and marine industries. Research is being carried out across the globe to enhance the properties of AMCs using novel fabrication methods and reinforcements [1–3]. a r c h i v e s o f c i v i l a n d m e c h a n i c a l e n g i n e e r i n g x x x ( 2 0 1 4 ) x x x – x x x a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 25 March 2014 Accepted 25 May 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Aluminium matrix composite Friction stir processing Microstructure Wear a b s t r a c t Friction stir processing (FSP) has evolved as a novel solid state technique to fabricate aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) in the recent years. FSP technique was applied to synthesis AA6082/TiC AMCs in order to analyze the effect of TiC particles, its volume fraction on the microstructure, mechanical and the sliding wear behaviour. A single pass FSP was carried out using a tool with 1200 rpm rotational speed, whose travel speed of 60 mm/min and an axial force of 10 kN to produce the composite. AMCs with five different volume fractions (0, 6, 12, 18 and 24 vol.%) were synthesized. The microstructure of the AA6082/TiC AMCs was studied using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The microhardness and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) were measured and the sliding wear behaviour was evaluated using a pin-on-disc apparatus. Thus the results revealed that the TiC particles significantly influenced the area of the composite, dispersion, grain size of matrix, microhardness, UTS and sliding wear behaviour of the AA6082/TiC AMCs. With this the effect of TiC particles on fracture surface and worn surface is also reported in this paper. # 2014 Politechnika Wroclawska. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9942605474; fax: +91 422 2605454. E-mail addresses: athangarasu@gmail.com (A. Thangarasu), murugan@cit.edu.in (N. Murugan), dinaweld2009@gmail.com (I. Dinaharan), vijayjoseph@karunya.edu (S.J. Vijay). ACME-233; No. of Pages 11 Please cite this article in press as: A. Thangarasu et al., Synthesis and characterization of titanium carbide particulate reinforced AA6082 aluminium alloy composites via friction stir processing, Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. acme.2014.05.010 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/acme http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.acme.2014.05.010 1644-9665/# 2014 Politechnika Wroclawska. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner Sp. z o.o. All rights reserved.