Influence of process parameters on wear resistance of surfaces modified by friction stirring processing in 7075 aluminum alloy

Abstract

This work investigated effects of friction stirred processing (FSP) parameters on the wear resistance of 7075 aluminum alloy. The results indicate the significantly higher wear rate and average coefficient of friction during the stabilization stage of samples W1 (welding speed: 60 mm/min; rotation speed: 1000 rpm) and W8 (welding speed: 80 mm/min; rotation speed: 1200 rpm), with increases of 45% and 40% for the wear rate, respectively, and 19% and 13% for coefficient of friction in comparison with the untreated material. The optimized FSP parameters can considerably improve the wear resistance of the material by affecting the heat input, which altered the grain size and distribution in the welded zone. X-Ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy studies provided the mechanism underlying grain size and plastic nano twin structures contributions to wear resistance.