ULTRAFINE GRAINED 6082 ALUMINUM ALLOY FABRICATED BY FRICTION STIR PROCESSING

Recently friction stir processing (FSP) has emerged as an effective tool for enhancing metal properties through microstructure modification. FSP is a solid-state process where the material within the processed zone undergoes intense plastic deformation resulting in dynamically recrystallized grain structure. This research demonstrates the use of FSP for creating ultrafine grained materials through severe plastic deformation. FSP was applied to extruded 6082-T4 aluminum alloy to produce ultrafine grained microstructure with grain sized from 0.5 to 3μm. The hardness of the FS processed 6082 aluminum alloy increased significantly with decreased tool rotation speed.