Many researchers have attempted to join Aluminum Matrix Composites (AMCs) using traditional fusion welding processes resulting in the formation of porosity, segregation, coarse microstructure, brittle intermetallic compounds and corrosion of ceramic particles. Friction Stir Processing (FSP) is the latest solid-state technique to achieve the homogeneous dispersion of reinforcement particles in the friction stir processed zone of AMCs [M. Shamanian, E. Bahrami, H. Edris and M. R. Nasresfahani, Surf. Rev. Lett. 25 (2018) 1950010]. The most widely used reinforcing material since the inception of FSP is inorganic (metallic) powders such as silicon carbide, titanium alloy, graphene, iron, stainless steel, nitrides and oxides, and fewer works have been reported on organic powders (i.e. bioprocessing using agro-waste powders) such as fly ash, palm kernel shell ash, coconut shell ash and rice husk ash [O. M. Ikumapayi, E. T. Akinlabi, S. K. Pal and J. D. Majumdar, Procedia Manuf. 35 (2019) 935]. In this work, the effect of FSP on the changes in metallurgical characterization and mechanical properties of AA7075/(3, 6 and 9) vol.% ZrB2 in situ AMCs was observed. After performing FSP, the AMCs were characterized using Scanning Electron Microscope and the mechanical properties such as Ultimate Tensile Strength and microhardness on the processed zone of the AMCs were calculated. The effect of FSP on AA7075/ (3, 6 and 9) vol.% ZrB2 in situ AMCs was investigated. The fracture morphologies on the processed surface of the AMCs were evaluated.

The AA7075 composites reinforced with 3, 6, and 9 volume fractions (vol.%) of ZrB2 particles have been successfully fabricated using in situ fabrication method. In this technique, the inorganic salts K2ZrF6 and KBF4 were added to the molten aluminum and retained the melting at 900∘C to form the required vol.% of ZrB2 particles. The aluminum-reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) are commonly known as aluminum matrix composites (AMCs). This work carries the effects of various wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM) input process parameters like pulse-on-time ([Formula: see text]), pulse-off-time ([Formula: see text]), wire feed rate (WFR), and gap voltage (GV) on the output responses such as material removal rate (MRR), surface roughness (SR), and Kerf-width ([Formula: see text]) of the fabricated AA7075/(3, 6, and 9) vol.% ZrB2 in situ AMCs. Based on Taguchi’s L9 orthogonal array method, the design of experiments (DoE) was used to carry out the operations on the fabricated AMCs. The optimal level of process parameters was found by the main effects plot for signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, contour plots, and the analysis of variance (ANOVA). The effect of these process parameters on MRR and SR was analyzed and it is found that the maximum MRR was attained in the optimal parametric combination of GV [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]V; [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]s; [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]s; WFR [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm/s; Reinforcement [Formula: see text] vol.%, and the minimum SR was attained in the optimal parametric combination of GV [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]V; [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]s; [Formula: see text][Formula: see text][Formula: see text]s; WFR [Formula: see text][Formula: see text]mm/s; Reinforcement [Formula: see text] vol.%.

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