Reinforcement of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in aluminium alloy AA 5052 through friction stir process

Composite reinforcement manufacturing is gaining the attention of many researchers because it enhances the physical and chemical properties of the material that it is reinforced into. In this research, friction stir processing (FSP) was used to modify the surface by reinforcing titanium dioxide on aluminium alloy AA 5052. In this process, a square pin of length of edges of 6 mm was used. The experiment was done under variable parameters, namely, speed of the spindle rotation, processing feed rate on the milling machine and groove width of the sample. The groove on aluminium alloy was made to store the nanoparticles before FSP. The resultant reinforced material had increased mechanical properties compared to the aluminium alloy without FSP. This was due to the presence of hard particles. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles were seen in the grain structure of the aluminium alloy which enhanced the properties of the material surface. This research was done to study the manufacturing process and the material integrity for various applications.