Investigation of the structure and mechanical properties of aluminum 6061-graphene nanocomposite fabricated by the friction stir processing

In this research, the structure and mechanical properties of aluminum 6061 composite with graphene reinforcing nanoparticles produced by friction stir method (FSP) were investigated. The rotation speed of the tool was set from 112 to 280 rpm, the speed of the tool movement in the range of 31.5 to 20 mm/min and the slope of the conical tool was set at 2, 2.5 and 3 degrees.

Characterization was done by tensile tests, microhardness, field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) along with X-ray energy spectroscopy (EDS) and optical microscope (OM). The results show that in the presence of graphene as a reinforcement, the mechanical properties are improved.

By increasing the ratio of rotation speed to tool movement speed (advance per revolution) from 0.07 to 0.28 and increasing the tool angle from 2 to 3 degrees, tensile strength enhanced from 338 to 396 MPa, yield strength from 319 to 383 MPa and the elongation increase has increased from 10.9 to 12.3 percent. Also, the micro-hardness in the nugget area increased from 273 to 400 Vickers.