Effect of Friction Stir Processing on the Microstructure, Mechanical and Tribological Properties of Silicon Nitride Reinforced ZE43 Magnesium Composite

Magnesium matrix composites are being used in more and more different ways, so they need to have good surface properties like resistance to wear and corrosion. In this work, we used friction stir processing to make ZE43 magnesium surface composites with different amounts of Si3N4 particles (by volumes 6.0%, 12.0%, and 18.0%, respectively). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope analysis showed Si3N4 particles in the developed magnesium surface composite are all uniformly distributed. After FSP, the composites were tested for hardness. Using Potentio dynamic polarization, the corrosion behavior of both the base matrix material and composites made were studied. The composite containing 18% Si3N4 has the highest corrosion resistance .The composite’s sliding wear behavior and coefficient of friction analyzed by a pin-on-disc tribometer by changing the amount of Si3N4 in the material, load and sliding distance. To attain the highest possible wear resistance and coefficient of friction, parameters of the process were optimized with the help of taguchi grey relational analysis. The results show that load, followed by volumetric percentage, and sliding distance have a substantial effect on wear rate and friction coefficient.