Optimization of friction stir processing parameters for enhanced microhardness of AA5083/Al-Fe in-situ composites via Taguchi technique

Friction stir processing (FSP) is a novel technique to fabricate metal matrix composites (MMCs) and surface composites (SCs). In the present study, Taguchi’s technique is used for attaining the optimum value of microhardness for AA5083/Al-Fe in-situ surface composites (SCs) via FSP using 40 hours mechanical alloyed Fe-40wt% Al powder mixture. Three different process parameters i.e. tool shoulder diameter, tool rotational speed, and tool traverse speed each having three levels were selected for optimizing the microhardness of SCs. The experimental study was accomplished by employing Taguchi's L9 orthogonal array. The Microhardness of the fabricated composites was confirmed using Vickers tester after the single-pass FSP. The outcomes of the study were examined and studied using signal to noise (S/N) ratio. The analysis also confirms the results and displayed that the optimum value of microhardness of 123.3 Hv was obtained with the selected parameter of tool shoulder diameter of 21 mm, tool rotational speed of 900 rpm, and traverse speed of 63 mm/min.