Experimental Investigation on Wear and Corrosion behavior of stir cast alloys and friction stir cast welds

Abstract The vicinity of the present investigation enfolds the wear and corrosion behavior of cast alloys (A356 T6 and AA 2014 T6) and cast welds (W1 and W2) fabricated by stir casting and stir welding route. Higher hardness is the outcome of re-precipitation process which led to 15% improvement in the weld nugget area among W1 and W2. The alloys and the weldments were subjected to wear test with three strategic plans by employing 10–20 N, 0.5–1.5 ms− 1, 500–1500 m range of varied applied load, sliding velocity and distance on an individual set. The evaluation of wear at constant applied load, velocity and distance showcased lower wear rate of the order 0.12, 0.18, and 0.09 mgm/min respectively. The specimens were also subjected to potentiodynamic polarization corrosion test. A356 T6 and W1 specimens witnessed lower order of corrosion compared to A2014 T6 and W2. The worn and corroded surface morphology entailed the dispersion of ‘Si’ and ‘Cu’ eutectic phase throughout the Al matrix. The synergistic approach of the wear and the corrosion study unveiled the performance of the cast alloys and cast welds in terms of wear and corrosion rate for automotive applications.