Effect of copper reinforcement on the microstructure, macrotexture, and wear properties of a friction-surfaced Al-Cu-Mg coating

The effect of copper reinforcement weight percentage and pre-coating treatment on the microstructure, mechanical properties, macrotexture, and wear resistance of friction surfaced Al-Cu-Mg clad on AA1050 alloy was investigated in this study. The research findings indicate that when coatings are fabricated with solid solutionized (SS) rod at a constant reinforcement weight percentage, the agglomeration of copper powders is greater than when coatings are fabricated with T3 treated rod. By increasing the weight percentage of copper powder in the coatings created with an SS rod, the width and thickness of the coatings decrease and increase, respectively. Additionally, increasing the weight percentage of copper powder results in an increase in the width and thickness of coatings created with a T3 rod, respectively. By increasing the weight percentage of copper powder from 0 to 27%, the average grain size of the coating decreases from 5.4 ± 0.2 to 1.8 ± 0.2 μm in coatings created with T3 rods and from 7.9 ± 0.3 to 2.4 ± 0.3 μm in coatings created with SS rods. It was discovered that samples coated with T3 rods have a more uniform distribution of copper-rich particles. As the copper reinforcement weight percentage increases, the texture intensity of the coating created with T3 and SS rods increases. By increasing the weight percentage of copper to 27%, the wear rate in coatings created with T3 and SS rods is reduced by 76 and 74%, respectively, compared to the AA1050 substrate. •Copper reinforcement increased the efficacy of the particle-stimulated nucleation mechanism.•Precipitates and intermetallic compounds significantly decreased the texture intensity of coated samples.•The wear rate is reduced from 72 to 76% by increasing the weight percentage of copper from 0 to 27%.