Effect of microstructure and precipitate formation on mechanical and corrosion behavior of friction stir processed AA6061 alloy using different cooling media

The present work studies the effect of microstructure and precipitate formation on mechanical and corrosion characteristics of friction stir processed AA6061 alloy using different cooling technologies (cryogenic and water cooling). The results revealed that recrystallized fine grains formed in all friction stir processing samples (grain size within a range of 2–6 µm) as a result of dynamic recovery and recrystallization, while samples processed in cooling-assisted friction stir processing resulted in better grain refinement in the stir zone than in air-cooled friction stir processing. Three kinds of precipitates (Fe-based needle-shaped precipitates, Si-based round-shaped precipitates, and chain of small round-shaped Si-based precipitates) were identified in base material and friction stir processing samples. Compared to air-cooled friction stir processing, in cooling-assisted friction stir processing, the hardness and tensile strength increased but remained lower than for the base alloy due to the presence of high density Fe-based needle-shaped precipitates. The ductility after friction stir processing greatly improved due to thermal softening and dissolution of precipitates. The corrosion results demonstrated that the corrosion resistance greatly enhanced after friction stir processing due to uniform distribution of grain structure and discontinuous chain of small round-shaped Si-based precipitates in stir zone. Moreover, cooling-assisted friction stir processing resulted in improved corrosion resistance compared to air-cooled friction stir processing due to the formation of fine precipitates.

Corrosion Behaviour of In Situ AlxNiy Reinforced AA6061 Composite

In-situ AlxNiy reinforced aluminium matrix composites (AMCs) were produced by stir-casting route by adding 5, 10 and 15 weight percentage (wt.%) of Ni to AA6061 aluminum alloy. The density, porosity, microstructure, hardness and corrosion behaviour of the as-cast AMCs was studied and compared with that of the as-cast AA6061 alloy. The porosity in all the castings was found to be less than 0.1%. Further, the porosity was found to decrease with increase in Ni addition. Optical microscopy studies showed that in-situ formed AlxNiy was distributed along the dendritic arms. The distribution became non-homogeneous and coarse with increase in AlxNiy content. The coarse distribution of AlxNiy in the AA6061 matrix also resulted in the decrease in hardness of the composite, after an initial increase in hardness till 10 wt.% Ni addition. The open circuit potential (OCP) and corrosion potential (Ecorr) of the AMCs with 5, 10 and 15 wt. of % Ni addition was noble than that of the AA6061 alloy. This was understood to be due to the presence of AlxNiy intermetallic which is known to have a noble corrosion potential than the aluminium alloy. However, the corrosion current (icorr) increased while the polarization resistance (Rp) decreased with increase in Ni addition in the AMC. This indicates that the coarse non-homogeneous distribution of in-situ AlxNiy had a detrimental effect on the corrosion performance of the AMCs.