Friction and wear analysis of Al-5052/NiTi surface composites fabricated via friction stir processing

This work presents a comprehensive analysis of the wear behaviour of Al 5052 alloy reinforced with Nitinol (NiTip) shape memory alloy using friction stir processing (FSP). Multi-pass FSP was performed to improve the dispersion of NiTip in the base material. The reinforced NiTip significantly enhanced the wear resistance of the base material and led to a reduction in the coefficient of friction by 17% and 15% at 15 N and 25 N loads respectively, suggesting improved tribological properties. The corrosion resistance also showed a significant improvement in the four-pass FSPed specimen as compared to the base metal. The qualitative analysis of the study is in agreement with the quantitative results.