Effect of Friction Stir Forming Process Parameters on Mechanical Interlock between A5083Alloy and Ultra-Thin Stainless Steel Strands

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced materials have gathered attention because of their significant properties such as heat resistance, abrasion resistance and specific strength. The present study proposes a new method of joining stainless steel strands with an aluminium alloy using friction stir forming and analyses the formation of a fibre-reinforced aluminium alloy composite material. Mechanical interlocks between the strands and the aluminium alloy are evaluated based on cross-sectional microstructure observations and EDS analysis. The tensile test indicated an increasing tendency of strength by increasing the number of strands and bending tests showed that higher strength is achieved in rare bend because of inhomogeneous grain distribution after friction stir forming (FSF).

Effect of Friction Stir Forming Parameters and Heat Treatment on Mechanical Properties of Fibre-Reinforced Aluminium Alloy

“…FSP also has a softening effect on heat-treated aluminium alloys, such as the 2000 series and 6000 series. For a better understanding of how FSP affects the mechanical properties (hardness in this case) of different aluminium alloys, similar experiments were conducted on different aluminium alloys, and the distribution of hardness for each alloy has been published in our previous study [24]. It was discussed that the stir zone in A2017 and A2024 is harder than the base metal, as in A5083.…”

“…1. Schematic illustration of mechanical interlocking of stainless-steel strands and A 5083 aluminium alloy utilizing friction stir forming: (a) strands are put inside the slits (distance between the slits is 5 mm), (b) friction stir forming causes plastic flow, which results in interlocking strands [24].…”

“…Consequently, FSF has since been studied in our laboratory as a new forming and joining method [19][20][21][22]. Considering the previously mentioned challenges in this field, authors have previously published an article regarding the possibility of reinforcing aluminium alloys by embedding stainless steel strands within the aluminium matrix utilising FSF [23,24]. The trade name of the stainless-steel fibres, manufactured by "Nippon-Seisen Company" with their original technology, is "NASLON."…”

Innovative Method of Embedding Optical Fiber inside Titanium Alloy Utilizing Friction Stir Forming

“…As shown in figure 1, the shape of the die transfers to the workpiece by placing the work material on the mold and applying friction stir processing to the back surface of the work material. Research on FSF is being conducted in our laboratory [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. This study proposes a novel method for joining dissimilar materials that mechanically joins titanium alloy and optical fiber by using friction stir forming, which effectively meets the mentioned above requirements.…”