Fatigue properties of friction stir welded particulate reinforced aluminium matrix composites.pdf

International Journal of Fatigue 32 (2010) 218–226Contents lists available at ScienceDirect International Journal of Fatigue journal homepage: www.elsevier .com/locate / i j fa t igueFatigue properties of friction stir welded particulate reinforced aluminium matrix composites G. Minak a,*, L. Ceschini b, I. Boromei b, M. Ponte c aDIEM – University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 2 - 40136 Bologna, Italy b SMETEC – University of Bologna, Viale del Risorgimento 4 - 40136 Bologna, Italy cDIPTEM – University of Genova, Via all’opera Pia 15 -16145 Genova, Italy a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c tArticle history: Available online 20 February 2009 Keywords: Metal matrix composites (MMCs) Friction stir welding (FSW) Fatigue Mechanical testing Microstructure0142-1123/$ - see front matter  2009 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2009.02.018 * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: giangiacomo.minak@unibo.it (G. bo.it (L. Ceschini), matteo.ponte@unige.it (M. Ponte).Few papers have discussed the friction stir welding (FSW) of particulate reinforced aluminium matrix composites and most of them focused on the set-up of the welding process parameters and their effect on microstructure, hardness and tensile behaviour. The aim of this study was to investigate the fatigue resistance of FSW joints on an as-cast particulate reinforced aluminium based composite (AA6061/ 22 vol.%/Al2O3p). The welding process was performed using different process parameters, also investigat- ing their effect on joint microstructure. The mechanical properties of the FSW composites were compared with those of the base material and the results were correlated to the microstructural modifications induced by the FSW process on the aluminium alloy matrix and the ceramic reinforcement. FSW reduced the size of both particle reinforcement and aluminium grains, and also led to a significant increase in interparticle matrix microhardness, for all process parameters. The FSW specimens belonging to a diffe