EFFECT OF ROTATIONAL SPEED ON MICROSTRUCTURE AND MICROHARDNESS OF BORON CARBIDE REINFORCED AA2014-T6 NANO SURFACE COMPOSITES

Aluminum and its alloys are the most important engineering materials due to their good ductility, resistance to corrosion, high strength and low density. AA2014-T6 finds applications in aerospace and defense industries and is used in heavy-duty forgings, extrusions for aircraft fittings, wheels, etc.., The objective of this present work is to investigate the influence of tool geometry (tapered cylindrical pin profile), tool rotational speed and volume % of reinforcement of nano B4C powder on mechanical properties of friction stir processed AA 2014/T6 aluminum alloy 6mm, thickness plates. Boron carbide is an extremely hard boron, carbon ceramic and covalent material and finds its applications in tank armor, bulletproof vests, engine sabotage powders, etc. In this investigation an attempt is being made to understand the effect of tool rotational speed at 2 volume percentage (Vol. % 2) of reinforcements (nano B4C) using tapered pin profile with concave shoulder radius of R2.5 on microstructure and microhardness of surface-based AA 2014-T6/B4C nanocomposites via friction stir processing (FSP). The microstructure is examined by using an optical microscope. The observed microhardness values are to be correlated with their microstructure.