Investigation of SiC Nanoparticle Size and Distribution Effects on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Al/SiC/Cu Composite during the FSSW Process: Experimental and Simulation

In this work, aluminum-copper composites reinforced with 50 nm and 250 nm SiC particles are fabricated on the interface of sheets by friction stir spot welding for the first time. In addition, the finite element method is used to study visual and understand the temperature distribution and mechanical characteristics of the composite with different nanoparticle sizes. Micro stress/strain field mainly simulated the impacts of particle size and particle distribution in the matrix. Results showed that large reinforcing particles lead to an increase in temperature distribution and grain size in the stir zone of the joint sample. It was also concluded that the addition of finer nanoparticle size causes higher shear tensile (5.4 MPa) and Von-Mises stress (260 MPa) in the workpiece due to higher homogeneous distribution and less agglomeration in the matrix. In addition, the thickness of the intermetallic compound (IMCs) layer at the interface of the joint interface was analyzed as SiC particles with different sizes are used due to higher interaction and intermixing between materials. The stress distribution and equivalent plastic strain of particles in the stir zone, with the uniform distribution of reinforcing particles for lower size (50 nm), increased. Graphical abstract