Tribological and corrosion behaviour of Al-Mg-CeO2 metal matrix surface composites

In this work, multiple-passes of friction stir processing (FSP) technique was utilized to fabricate Al-Mg-CeO2 surface composites (SCs). Microstructural studies revealed that 5-pass FSP showed a better dispersion of CeO2 nano-particles and enhanced grain refinement compared to 1-pass FSP. The results indicated that the Al-Mg-CeO2 SCs exhibit enhanced tribological characteristics viz; load bearing capacity, improved resistance to wear (34.48% decreased wear rate in 5-pass SCs) and corrosion resistance in respect to the non-reinforced Al-Mg matrix. The analysis of mechanical, tribological, and corrosion behaviour strongly correlates with microstructural evolution.