The Use of Friction Stir Technology to Modify Surfaces of AM60B Magnesium Die Castings
- ORNL
- South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
- Ford Motor Company
These experiments were done to evaluate the feasibility of locally modifying the surface properties of magnesium alloys with friction-stir processing. The magnesium alloy used for the study was high-pressure die-cast AM60B, nominally Mg-6Al-0.13 Mn (wt.%). Friction-stir passes were made with a translation speed of 1.7 mm/s using tool-rotation speeds of 1,250 rpm or 2,500 rpm. Stir passes with good appearance were obtained under both conditions. In some cases up to five passes were overlapped on a single bar to produce stir zones with cross-sectional dimensions of about 1.5 mm x 10 mm. Metallographic examinations indicated that the stir zones were largely comprised of a magnesium solid solution with equiaxed grains on the order of 5-10 {micro}m in size. Hardness mapping showed that the stir zones experienced increases of 16-25% compared to the as-cast metal. Room-temperature testing showed that, compared to the cast metal, the stir zones had flow stresses nearly 20% higher with about twice the tensile elongation.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC05-00OR22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1003504
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Metals, Vol. 58, Issue 5; ISSN 0148-6608
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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