Study the effect of processing parameters on friction stir welding of AA5083 aluminum alloy reinforced with Al-SiC matrix

Improving the friction stir welding of AA5083 has been documented in recent applications in corrosive mediums like shipbuilding and chemical storage vessels. This article studies the effect of reinforcing the AA5083 friction stir welding joint with aluminum-silicon carbide matrix particles synthesized by ball milling with different silicon carbide weight ratios. As well as the effect of welding process parameters (transverse speed and rotational speed) on the tensile strength, hardness, and corrosion properties of the reinforced joint was investigated. Results show that as the silicon carbide weight ratio in the reinforcement matrix increases the joint strength and corrosion resistance increase, while corrosion weight loss decreases with an increase in transverse speed. Microstructure and hardness investigation show that the rotational speed of 800 rpm was the most efficient in mixing reinforcement in the joint so it has the higher strength and lower corrosion weight loss at fixing the other parameters, it shows also the transverse speed of 40 mm/min give the welding the adequate amount of heat input to maintain the interconnection between grains that have the highest strength in fixing the other parameters. • The addition of aluminum powder to the reinforcement matrix enhances the wettability of ceramic particles and maintains a stable interface, facilitating efficient load transfer. • Increasing SiC% in the Al-SiC matrix enhances grain refinement and welding strength, with 800 rpm rotational speed and 40 mm/min transverse speed achieving the highest strength. • Increasing SiC in the Al-SiC matrix refines grains and achieves coherent grain interconnections at 40 mm/min and 800 rpm rotational speed, reducing corrosion weight loss.