Influence of tool pin profile on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of Cu/SiC metal matrix composites produced by friction stir processing

Friction stir processing (FSP) is a metal-working technique that causes microstructural modification and change in the upper surface of metal components. In this work the effects of tool pin profile on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of reinforced SiC particles metal matrix composites (MMCs) produced by friction stir processing were studied. Optical microscopy (OM) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to carry out the microstructural observations. Vickers Microhardness Machine used for microhardness evaluation. Results show that, tool pin profile play a major role in improvement of the surface quality, SiC particles dispersion in pure copper matrix, hardness behavior and wear resistance. Two different tool pin profile (straight cylindrical and square) were used to perform the process. It was found that, straight cylindrical tool pin profile led to finer grains, uniform dispersion of SiC particles, higher microhardness and wear resistance values.