Effect of SiC Volume Fraction on the Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of Cu/SiC Composite Layer Fabricated by FSP

Abstract

In this study, friction stir processing (FSP) was applied to fabricate a Cu/SiC surface composite layer by incorporation of 5 µm SiC particles. Effects of the traverse speed and SiC volume fraction on the microstructure, hardness and powder distribution pattern of the developed surface layer were investigated. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was employed to carry out the microstructural observations. Results show that increasing the volume fraction causes an intense decrease in the grain size and increase in the hardness of the developed surface. To achieve a uniform distribution of particles and uniform microstructure, the traverse speed should decrease as far as possible.