Investigating the microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-TiB2 composite fabricated by Friction Stir Processing (FSP)

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Al-TiB2 composite fabricated by Friction Stir Processing (FSP) were evaluated. In situ TiB2-10 wt%Al composite powder was synthesized by mechanical alloying (MA) of Ti, B and Al powder mixture. FSP was applied on AA6063 with and without the addition of TiB2-Al composite powder. Microstructural evaluations showed a nearly uniform distribution of TiB2 in aluminum matrix after FSP with the addition of composite powder. FSP of AA6063 alloy without the addition of reinforcing particles resulted in slight improvement in tensile strength to about 195 MPa in comparison to the as-received alloy. By the addition of MAed TiB2-Al composite powder during FSP the tensile strength could increase to about 280 MPa which was about 70% higher than that of the base material.