Grain Structure Formation and Texture Modification through Multi-Pass Friction Stir Processing in AlSi10Mg Alloy Produced by Laser Powder Bed Fusion

Abstract

A new strategy is proposed to modify the grain structure and crystallographic texture of laser-powder bed fusion AlSi10Mg alloy using multi-pass friction stir processing (FSP). Accordingly, 1–3 passes of FSP with 100% overlap were performed. Scanning electron microscopy and electron backscattered diffraction were used for microstructural characterization. Continuous dynamic recrystallization and geometric dynamic recrystallization are the governing mechanisms of grain refinement during FSP. The stir zones have bimodal grain structures containing large and fine grains. The multi-pass FSP caused a considerable increase in the volume fraction of the large-grained area in the stir zone, which contained higher values of low-angle boundaries and sharp shear texture components of B(11¯2)[110] and B¯(1¯12¯)[1¯1¯0]. The formation of low-energy grain boundaries in the stir zone and alignment of the low-energy crystallographic planes with the surface of the sample made the strategy of using multi-pass FSP a promising candidate for corrosion resistance enhancement in future studies. Moreover, the detailed evolution of the grains, texture components, grain boundaries, and Si particles is discussed.