Optimization of Friction Stir Process Parameters for Fabrication of Surface Hybrid Composite Using Full Factorial Design

Surface composites can be prepared by FSP, a solid-state surface processing method. This study is to use the FSP method to build a hybrid surface composite of Al7075 reinforced with a mixture of silicon carbide (SiC) and Chromium (Cr) particles, and to optimize the FSP parameters to investigate mechanical properties and amplify corrosion resistance. The surface composites were made by modifying the FSP parameters, and the results were optimized using Full Factorial Design. Tool plunge width, Tool pin profile, and Reinforcement method were selected as the parameters in addition to Silicon carbide and chromium were selected as the reinforcements to strengthen the composites. Plunge depths for the tools were set to 0.1mm and 0.2mm. Conical and hexagonal tool pin profile geometry were chosen. Grooves and serial holes in the specimen were chosen as reinforcement methods. For each run, the micro-hardness tests were conducted on the maximum surface of the prepared samples. The results show that the composite prepared using hexagonal pin tool profile showed better results than the conical tool. And the hardness was better with the increase in tool plunge depth..