Effect of Rotational Speed on Wear Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welded AA6061+15%Al2O3p Metal-Matrix Composite

The main objective of the present work was to investigate the effect of tool rotational speed on the mechanical and microstructural properties of aluminum based metal matrix composites (AA 6061 alloy reinforced with 15% of Al2O3 particles). The welds were produced by varying the rotational speed from 630 to 1250 r/min while the chosen welding speed was 80 mm/min for analysis. It was found from the analysis of the microstructure that the changing of the rotational speed leads to variation of the grain size and also the fragmentation and improvement of Al2O3 particles distribution in nugget zone. Moreover, the obtained results clearly depicted that increasing rotational speed from 630 to 1250 r/min resulted in improvement of the wear resistance and also decreases the fluctuations of friction coefficient which can be attributed to the presence of Al2O3 particles which acted as barriers and restricted the grain growth in nugget zone. The lowest wear rate was achieved at welds produced at rotational speed of 1250 r/min. It was seen from the hardness results that the highest tensile strength value was obtained for 1250 r/min rotational speed with an average value of about 320 MPa (equivalent to 82% that of the base metal).