Combined Influence of Traverse and Rotation Speeds in Friction Stir Processing of Alsi10mg Alloy Produced by Laser-Powder Bed Fusion

Abstract

In this study, friction stir processing (FSP) was employed to enhance the corrosion properties through local modification of the microstructure of AlSi10Mg alloy fabricated by laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) technology. Different combinations of processing parameters were tested, with rotation speeds ranging from 800 to 1600 rpm and traverse speeds from 100 to 300 mm/min, in order to evaluate the impact of traverse speed on the mechanical and electrochemical properties of L-PBF AlSi10Mg. The results showed that FSP under the different processing parameters had effectively transformed the coarse grain structure of the as-built AlSi10Mg into fine and equiaxed grain structures in the stir zone, while also causing fragmentation and refinement of the Si networks within the material. The hardness of the stir region decreased compared to the as-built material, without significant influence from the processing parameters. However, the Si content within the stir zone is dependent on the combined influence of the rotation and traverse speeds, which in turn, affected the corrosion resistance of the material, with a lower traverse speed promoting a higher Si concentration in the Al-matrix, improving the corrosion performance of the processed material.

Keywords: Laser-Powder Bed Fusion, Friction stir processing, AlSi10Mg, Hardness, corrosion