Experimental investigation on friction stir welding of aa6061 zro2 c particulate composites

Abstract

Aluminium Metal Matrix Composites (AMMC) are widely used in mechanical, automobile, aerospace and marine industries because they possess improved tensile strength, hardness, stiffness and tribological behavior. However, they have limited industrial applications since there have been many issues in joining of AMMC by fusion welding. In practice, there are two types of welding processes employed to join materials, namely: Fusion Welding Process and Solid State Welding process. In fusion welding process, there occur two reactions, namely segregation and deleterious. These are the major constraints to this process involving joints of AMMCs thereby making it not feasible. Whereas solid state welding process offers unique solutions compared to fusion welding processes. Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process is a type of solid state welding process. It is harmless and does not melt or recast the AMMC thereby enabling the process easy and technically feasible. Yet, there are limited literatures related to the applications and FSW process parameter optimization in AMMC. The aim of the present research work is to fabricate and analyse the characteristics of an FS welded AMMC. AA6061 is the proposed matrix material, incorporating Zirconium Di-Oxide (ZrO2) as the primary reinforcement and Graphite (C) as the secondary reinforcement. Out of various fabrication methods employed in the development of AMMC, stir casting method is the most ideal and highly preferred. This is due to its cost-effectiveness, mass productivity and above all, its homogeneous distribution of reinforcement particulates. This study begins with the preparation of two types of AMMC. In the first type, single reinforcement particulate (ZrO2) is used in different weight percentage (wt %) composition from 0 to 10 % with AA6061 matrix material. In the second type of AMMC, in addition to the primary reinforcement (ZrO2) and secondary reinforcement particulates is C is also added between 0 to 6 wt %. newline