Appraising wear resistance characteristics of friction stir process AA6082 and AA6082/graphene surface composite

Friction Stir Processing (FSP) has emerged as a potentially effective method for enhancing the surface characteristics of aluminium alloys (AA) used in critical engineering applications. The samples of AA6082 reinforced with graphene particles and another one, unreinforced AA6082, were fabricated through the FSP route. The microstructure and hardness were evaluated at the stir zone, also the tribological characteristics of FSP specimens were observed through tribometer tests. The load 10–40 N and sliding velocity 1–3 m/s were assigned to conduct tribological tests. The worn-out surface texture phenomenon was studied using scanning electron microscopy. AA6082 with graphene particle surface composite has the refined microstructure at the stir zone surface with a substantial improvement in hardness of 42.11%. Also wear resistance at 40 N, FSP'ed stir zone AA6082/Gr showed ∼49% (1 m/s) and ∼37% (3 m/s) lower wear rate, and ∼39% (1 m/s) and ∼42% (3 m/s) lower COF than unreinforced AA6082 stir zone surface. The character variation of wear mechanism between unreinforced and graphene-reinforced alloy was deliberated with evidence of worn surface morphology reveals debris formation, delamination, and ploughing. Debris analysis indicated the presence of constituents other than oxides. This research states that the FSP technique was promising for aerospace, automotive, and marine uses.