Tribological behavior and mechanical properties of friction stir processed HDPE/Fe-Fe3O4 composites

In the current work, high density polyethylene (HDPE) composites were fabricated via Friction Stir Processing (FSP). A two-phase Fe-Fe3O4 powder was used as the reinforcing agents. The extremely low cost powder was obtained from shot-blasting of as-forged low carbon steel components. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to phase analysis and evaluation of the purity of the as-received powder. The size distribution of the powder was determined by Laser Particle Size Analysis (LPSA). Also, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was employed to investigate the particles morphology. The processing used a cylindrical tool to impose the severe plastic deformation and material stirring in order to improve the mechanical properties and particles distribution. The tribological and mechanical properties of the fabricated samples were examined. According to the results, both the friction coefficient and specific wear rate of FSPed samples reduced remarkably. The hardness and tensile strength of the FSPed composites were higher than the FSPed HDPE samples; however, their elongations were lower.