A study on friction stir welding of aluminium metal matrix composites using coated tools

Abstract

Increasing environmental concerns and strict norms in pollution control have made automotive and aerospace components manufacturer to regulate the vehicle emission. In order to control the vehicle emission and improve the fuel economy, the manufacturers have targeted to reduce the weight which in turn created a demand for metal matrix composites owing to their superior mechanical properties such as improved stiffness, strength, wear resistance, reduced density and better thermal stability. newlineEspecially AA 5083 reinforced with boron carbide particles are considered as best suitable material for producing armor tanks and neutron absorber. However, a major impediment which prevents the widespread industrial applications of metal matrix composites is that the lack of efficient joining techniques to produce the reliable joints. Though the conventional and non conventional joining methods like metal inert gas welding, vacuum brazing, laser welding, electron beam welding, and ultrasound assisted soldering are used to join composite materials it leads to problems like incomplete mixing of the parent and filler materials, excessive eutectic formation, and creation of undesirable deleterious phases. newline