Effect of friction stir processing on microstructural and mechanical properties of lightweight composites and cast metal alloys – A review

ABSTRACT Friction stir processing (FSP) is a solid-state processing method that can be used as a microstructural modifier or a post-processing technique. It can be applied to refine the grain structure. It is an eco-friendly manufacturing approach with negligible harmful gases and can be applied to all types of engineering materials. With the continuous development in FSP, now it is used to develop surface composites. The ability to refine the grain structure and uniform dispersion of reinforcement particles with improved mechanical and microstructural properties make it preferable over most of the manufacturing methods. The present work highlights the mechanism of FSP, the effect of dependent and independent process parameters, tool parameters and temperature variation in different zones of the stirring. It also focused on the microstructural features and effect of FSP on mechanical properties such as tensile strength and microhardness of the lightweight composites and cast alloys.