Wear Behavior of Friction Stir Processed AA7075 – Aluminosilicate / MWCNT Hybrid Composite Using Multi-objective Optimization

In this work, an armor grade AA7075-T6 matrix material plate was reinforced along the surface of the material with aluminosilicate (Al₂SiO₅) and multiwalled-carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) using friction stir processing method. The adoption of friction stir processing overcome the difficulties like inadequate bonding strength, development of agglomeration, interface reactivity among reinforcements and substrates when employing the casting approach to impart hard / soft reinforcement particles. The friction stir processed hybrid surface composite plate was developed to enhance the mechanical and tribological property of the matrix material used in structural plate and gun barrel in defense applications. Friction stir processed AA7075 hybrid surface composite plate was tested through pin-on-disc equipment to understand the property enhancement. The test results indicate that, wear rate and friction coefficient value of the friction stir processed samples was lesser than the base material and adhesive wear mechanism was dominant in the developed materials. The microhardness, wear and friction coefficient performance of the processed surface hybrid composite material was optimized using genetic algorithm based multi-objective optimization.