Evaluating the influence of various friction stir processing strategies on surface integrity of hybrid nanocomposite...

To fundamentally investigate the influence of different friction stir processing (FSP) strategies, namely raster, spiral, and parallel in various passes on the surface integrity of hybrid aluminum nanocomposites reinforced by titanium oxide (TiO₂), silicon carbide (SiC), and zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) nanoparticles, various examinations were conducted. The surface integrity, comprising microstructural characterization, elemental composition, surface topography, roughness, waviness, and microhardness was studied by different analyses, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), optical microscopy (OM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and Vickers microhardness machine in different zones. Results demonstrated that surface integrity and quality are dependent on the type of FSP strategy. SEM images revealed that a homogeneous distribution of the nanoparticles in the matrix is obtainable by the parallel and raster FSP strategies. Roughness and waviness measurements illustrated that the surface topography of the hybrid nanocomposite was symmetrical and improved by raster strategy and TiO₂ + ZrO₂ nanoparticle reinforcement. Furthermore, the two-pass FSP improved the arithmetic average surface value (R_a) such that the R_a of two passes decreased by 32.5% compared to a single one. The mean microhardness in the spiral, raster, and parallel pass strategies increased by ~ 45%, 37%, and 31%, respectively.