Track: Manufacturing

Abstract

Research on Aluminum Matrix Composites has seen an exponential growth in the recent past, as the qualities demonstrated by metal matrix composites are far more appealing than those of unreinforced metals. Many properties, such as high-temperature strength, high elastic modulus, greater stiffness, creep, and fatigue resistance, make them more significant for automotive and aerospace applications. Friction Stir Processing (FSP) has gained importance for surface generation because it does not influence the parent properties of the material. The component's surface is cardinal for many applications, and the product's life depends on surface properties such as wear resistance, etc. In this work, FSP has been used to create an AA8011/TiC surface composite, and the effect of process parameters, including tool rotational speed, linear movement of the tool, and dwell duration, on various surface attributes have been investigated. Taguchi-based Grey Relational Analysis (TGRA) has been employed to develop distinct sets of process parameters and optimize the response parameters simultaneously. After analyzing the obtained optimum results, it is concluded that TiC can be utilized as a reinforcement. FSP has proven to be a good option for producing AA8011/TiC surface composites. The optimal parametric setting for maximization of microhardness and grain number was 1000 RPM of tool rotation speed, 25 mm/min linear speed, and 35 seconds of dwell duration. The surface composite layer generated by the FSP process exhibits better results for both responses than the AA8011 sheets, as received.