Over the last decade attempts have been made to fabricate aluminum matrix composites (AMCs) reinforced with several ceramic particles. Aluminum reinforced with ZrB 2 particles is one such AMC. The successful application of new kind of AMCs lies in the development of secondary processes such as machining and joining. Friction stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new solid state welding which overcomes all the setbacks of fusion welding of AMCs. An attempt has been made to friction stir weld AA6061/ 0-10 wt. % ZrB 2 in-situ composites and to develop empirical relationships to predict the sliding wear behavior of butt joints. Four factors, five levels central composite rotatable design has been used to minimize the number of experiments. The factors considered are tool rotational speed, welding speed, axial force and weight percentage of ZrB 2 . The effect of these factors on wear rate (W) and wear resistance (R) of the welded joints is analyzed and the predicted trends are discussed.
Miracle, D.B. , 2005, “Metal matrix composites – From science to technological significance”, Composites Science and Technology, Vol.65, pp. 2526–2540.
Rosso, M., 2006, “Ceramic and metal matrix composites: Routes and properties”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol.175, pp. 364–375.
Huang, R.Y. , Chen, S.C. , Huang, J.C., 2001,“Electron and Laser Beam Welding of High Strain Rate Superplastic Al-6061/SiC Composites”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol.32, pp.2575-2584.
Lean, P.P., Gil, L., Ure?a, A. , 2003, “Dissimilar welds between unreinforced AA6082 and AA6092/SiC/25p composite by pulsed-MIG arc welding using unreinforced filler alloys” (Al–5Mg and Al–5Si), Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol.143– 144, pp. 846–850.
Storjohann, D. , Barabash, O.M. , Babu, S.S., David, S.A., Sklad, P.S., Bloom, E.E., 2005, “Fusion and Friction Stir Welding of Aluminum-Metal-Matrix Composites”, Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, Vol.36, pp.3237-3247.
Bassani, P., Capello, E., Colombo, D., Previtali, B., Vedani, M., 2007, “Effect of process parameters on bead properties of A359/SiC MMCs welded by laser”, Composites: Part A, Vol.38, pp.1089–1098.
Mishra, R.S., Ma, Z.Y., 2005, “Friction stir welding and processing”, Materials Science and Engineering R, Vol.50, pp.1–78.
Nandan, R., Roy, T.D., Bhadeshia, H. K. D. H., 2008, “Recent Advances in Friction Stir Welding – Process, Weldment Structure and Properties”, Progress in Materials Science, Vol.53, pp.980-1023.
Prado, R.A. , Murr, L. E. , Shindo, D. J., Soto, K.F., 2001, “Tool wear in the friction-stir welding of aluminum alloy 6061+20% Al 2 O 3 : a preliminary study”, Scripta materialia,Vol.45, pp.75-80.
Shindo, D. J., Rivera, A. R., Murr, L. E., 2002, “Shape optimization for tool wear in the friction-stir welding of cast AI359-20% SiC MMC”, Journal of Materials Science, Vol.37, pp. 4999 – 5005.
Marzoli L.M., Strombeck, A.V., Santos, J.F. D, Gambaro, C. , Volpone, L.M., 2006, “Friction stir welding of an AA6061/Al 2 O 3 /20 p reinforced alloy”, Composites Science and Technology, Vol.66, pp.363–371.
Amirizad, M., Kokabi, A.H., Gharacheh, M. A, Sarrafi, R., Shalchi, B., Azizieh, M., 2006, “Evaluation of microstructure and mechanical properties in friction stir welded A356+15%SiCp cast composite”, Materials Letters, Vol.60, pp.565–568.
Ceschini, L., Boromei, I., Minak, G., Morri, A., Tarterini, F., 2007, “Effect of friction stir welding on microstructure, tensile and fatigue properties of the AA7005/10 vol.% Al 2 O 3 p composite”, Composites Science and Technology, Vol.67, pp.605–615.
Feng, A.H., Xiao, B.L., Ma, Z.Y., 2008, “Effect of microstructural evolution on mechanical properties of friction stir welded AA2009/SiCp composite”, Composites Science and Technology, Vol.68, pp.2141–2148.
Chen, X.G., Silva, M. D., Gougeon, P., Georges, L. S., 2009, “Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded AA6063–B4C metal matrix composites”, Materials Science and Engineering A, Vol.518, pp.174–184.
Vijay, S.J., Murugan, N., 2010, “Influence of tool pin profile on the metallurgical and mechanical properties of friction stir welded Al–10 wt.% TiB2 metal matrix composite”, Materials and Design, Vol.31, pp.3585–3589.
Nami, H., Adgi, H., Sharifitabar, M., Shamabadi, H., 2010 “Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded Al/Mg2Si metal matrix cast composite”, Materials and Design, Vol.32, pp.976–983.
Gopalakrishnan, S., Murugan, N., 2011, “Prediction of tensile strength of friction stir welded aluminum matrix TiCp particulate reinforced composite”, Materials and Design, Vol.32, pp.462–467.
Sonber, J.K., Murthy, T.S.R.C., Subramanian, C., Kumar, S., Fotedar, R.K., Suri, A.K., 2011, “Investigations on synthesis of ZrB2 and development of new composites with HfB2 and TiSi2”, International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials, Vol.29, pp.21–30.
Guo, S.Q., Kagawa, Y., Nishimura, T., 2009, “Mechanical behavior of two-step hotpressed ZrB2-based composites with ZrSi2”, Journal of the European Ceramic Society, Vol.29, pp.787–794.
Lee, W.B., Lee, C.Y., Kim, M.K., Yoon, J., Kim, Y.J, Yoen, Y.M., Jung, S.B., 2006, “Microstructures and wear property of friction stir welded AZ91 Mg/SiC particle reinforced composite”, Composites Science and Technology, Vol.66, pp.1513–1520.
Elangovan, K., Balasubramanian, V., Babu, S., 2009, “Predicting tensile strength of friction stir welded AA6061 aluminum alloy joints by a mathematical model”, Materials and Design, Vol.30, pp.188–193.
Sundaram, N. S., Murugan, N., 2010, “Tensile behavior of dissimilar friction stir welded joints of aluminum alloys”, Materials and Design, Vol.31, pp.4184–4193.
Kumar, S., Balasubramanian, V., 2010, “Effect of reinforcement size and volume fraction on the abrasive wear behaviour of AA7075Al/SiCp P/M composites—A statisticalanalysis”, Tribology International, Vol.43, pp. 414–422.
Kumar, G.N., Narayanasamy, R., Natarajan, S., Babu, S.P. K., Sivaprasad, K., Sivasankaran, S., 2010, “Dry sliding wear behavior of AA 6351-ZrB2 in situ composite at room temperature”, Materials and Design, Vol.31, pp.1526–1532.
Mandal, A., Chakraborty, M., Murty, B.S., 2007, “Effect of TiB2 particles on sliding wear behaviour of Al–4Cu alloy”, Wear, Vol.262, pp.160–166.
Karthikeyan, L., Senthilkumar, V.S., Padmanabhan, K.A., 2010, “On the role of process variables in the friction stir processing of cast aluminum A319 alloy”, Materials and Design, Vol.31, pp.761–771.
Cavaliere, P., Squillace, A., Panella, F., 2008, “Effect of welding parameters on mechanical and microstructural properties of AA6082 joints produced by friction stir welding”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Vol.200, pp.364–372.
Kumar, K., Kailas, S.V., 2008, “On the role of axial load and the effect of interface position on the tensile strength of a friction stir welded aluminum alloy”, Materials and Design, Vol.29, pp.791–797.