ABSTRACT
Friction stir processing (FSP) is a most widely used severe plastic deformation (SPD) technique used for enhancement of mechanical properties and refinement of microstructure in metals, alloys and also in surface alteration, surface composites, and metal matrix composites. This work deals with the integration of FSP with fused filament fabrication (FFF), a popular additive manufacturing (AM) method. The research work comprises of four parts, first being 3d printing of poly lactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) parts through FFF, then multiple reinforcements like multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and silicon dioxide (SiO2) are filled into the grooves, then in the third step FSP is performed on the 3D specimens with variations in rotational and travel speed of the tool with threaded pin profile. Finally, tensile strength is examined and the effect of different reinforcements is studied. The results indicate that MWCNTs reinforced PLA is found to have the highest strength (37.41 MPa) which is 72.6% more than the lowest strength (21.67 MPa) obtained for SiO2 reinforced PLA. However, in the case of other polymer, SiO2 reinforced ABS exhibited maximum strength (14.71 MPa) amongst other reinforcements for ABS. The ductility is decreased for all the FFF specimens after FSP and PLA composites exhibited improved surface profiling parameters as compared with ABS composites after FSP. Also, fractography is performed to understand the failure modes of specimens filled with different reinforcements.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the AICTE Project, File No. 8-88/FDC/RPS (Policy-1)/2019-20. The authors would like to appreciate the support from Department of Chemistry, DEI, Agra for extending the FESEM and EDS facilities. The authors are thankful to ACMS, IIT Kanpur, for providing the laboratory for testing facilities.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
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Notes on contributors
Pratap Singh
Dr. Pratap Singh is a Mechanical Engineering researcher who recently obtained his Ph.D. from Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra. His research focuses on friction stir processing, friction stir additive manufacturing, and friction stir welding. His expertise lies in the development of metal matrix composites and polymer matrix composites using such techniques. During his research period, Dr. Singh has made significant contributions to the field and has published several papers in reputable journals and conferences.
Ankit Sahai
Dr Ankit Sahai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Dayalbagh Educational Institute, Agra INDIA. He has over 20 years of professional experience in teaching and IT Software and has been actively involved in performing research and development in the field of additive manufacturing, 3D printing of prosthetic sockets, polymer composites and severe plastic deformations.
Rahul Swarup Sharma
Dr. Rahul Swarup Sharma is presently a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Dayalbagh Educational Institute (DEI), AGRA INDIA. He has over 25 years of professional experience. He has been teaching and researching at DEI in the areas of Social Product Development, Virtual Labs, Frugal Design of 3D Printers, and Additive Manufacturing for the last 22 years. He was a visiting professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA in 2009. He has been associated with the National Virtual Labs consortium of the Government of India. He is currently involved in the mass mobilization of 3D printing and additive manufacturing among the masses in India.