Enhancing Mechanical, Thermal, and Tribological Properties of AA7075 Surface Composite with rGO-MWCNT Hybrid Reinforcement via Friction Stir Processing
Recent surface composite developments have impacted the aerospace, energy, and construction sectors. Friction Stir Processing (FSP) can manufacture high-quality surface composites from lightweight materials. This research optimizes process parameters, including Rotational Speed (RS), Travel Speed (T...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Polish Academy of Sciences
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Archives of Metallurgy and Materials |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.pan.pl/Content/135573/AMM-2025-2-35-Sharma.pdf |
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| Summary: | Recent surface composite developments have impacted the aerospace, energy, and construction sectors. Friction Stir Processing (FSP) can manufacture high-quality surface composites from lightweight materials. This research optimizes process parameters, including Rotational Speed (RS), Travel Speed (TS), and Number of Passes (NoP), utilizing the design of experiments (DoE) statistical quality tool. The design matrix was created using the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) technique, and the experiments were based on the central composite design (CCD). ANOVA was used to validate the actual and projected models. Optimal FSP process parameters were utilized to create a surface composite of AA7075 with rGO and (rGO + MWCNT) reinforcements. The homogeneous reinforcement distribution on the surface composite was tested using optical microscopy. The average grain size of AA7075-T6 measured as 157±23 μm reduced to an average grain size of 7.5±1.2 μm for the rGO reinforced surface metal matrix composite (SMMC) and ultimately reduced to an average grain size of 6.5±0.7 μm for the (rGO + MWCNT) reinforced SMMC. The reduced fraction of intermetallic was identified in the microstructures, and the altered intensity of the significant XRD peaks was confirmed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) analysis. Increased microhardness from 168±1.7 Hv (for BM AA7075-T6) to 190±2.4 Hv (for rGO reinforced SMMC) and further improved to a greater hardness of 196±1.8 Hv (for (rGO + MWCNT) reinforced SMMC). The impact strength improved drastically from 16±0.8 J (for BM AA7075-T6) to 21.3±1.1 J (for rGO reinforced SMMC) and greatly enhanced to 24±0.6 J (for (rGO + MWCNT) reinforced SMMC) were observed. The average thermal conductivity value of (rGO + MWCNT) reinforced SMMC showed a greater increase of 30-80 W/mK when compared to the BM. FSPed (rGO + MWCNT) SMMC specimen showed enhanced tribological properties with a reduction of nearly 65% compared to the BM. These results confirmed that the modified surface microstructures in the SMMCs by using FSP help to improve the characteristics of the AA7075-T6 alloy. |
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| ISSN: | 2300-1909 |