Investigation of the effect of process parameters on the mechanical properties of friction stir additive manufactured (FSAM) AA8090 alloy

Friction Stir Additive Manufacturing (FSAM), an emerging technique, falls under the category of sheet lamination additive manufacturing. It employs a layer-by-layer fabrication where all the plates should be flat and of the same size. This process was developed to fabricate near-net-shaped components and refined microstructures. FSAM has been extensively used in the fabrication of aluminum alloys for aerospace applications. In this work, FSAM has been carried out for AA8090 aluminum alloy. AA8090 is the second-generation Al-Li alloy with 2.3% Li, lightweight, 10% lower density and 11% higher modulus than the existing commercial 2014 and 2024 Al alloy. The experiments were carried out at rotational speed (1000 – 2000 rpm), traverse speed (45-55 mm/min) and 1° constant tilt angle. The macrostructure and microstructure analysis were carried out. This was followed by microhardness and tensile test analysis. The microhardness was carried out at nine points on each layer and tensile specimen was made according to ASTM E8 standard. The maximum reduction in grain size, which is 62%, maximum hardness value 113 HV and maximum tensile value 346.8 MPa were observed at 2000 rpm. The size of the grains decreased from the top layer into the bottom layers. The maximum hardness for all the experiments was observed in the re-stir zone of the specimens. It was concluded that with increase in process parameters, better mechanical and microstructural properties can be achieved. The fractography analysis showed the presence of dimples and tear ridges indicating a ductile fracture. .