Effect of Multiple-Pass Friction Stir Processing Overlapping on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of As-Cast NiAl Bronze

As-cast Cu-9Al-4.5Ni-4Fe NiAl bronze alloy (NAB) was subjected to multiple-pass friction stir processing (FSP) with a 50 pct overlap. After FSP, the coarse microstructure of the base metal (BM) was transformed to defect-free material with fine microstructure. While the torchlike patterns in the stir zone (SZ) and the uplifted grains in the transitional zones (TZs) between two passes were observed in the multiple-pass FSP region, no grain coarsening was found in the remnant zone of the previous SZ after subsequent FSP pass. The hardness value of the FSP materials was higher than that of the BM and was homogeneously distributed throughout the entire multiple-pass FSP region. The FSP materials showed greatly improved tensile properties compared to the BM, and the TZs showed similar tensile strength and ductility to the single-pass FSP materials. The BM broke in a mixture mode of brittle cleavage and microvoid coalescence fracture, whereas the FSP and TZ samples failed in the latter fracture mode. The results showed that the multiple-pass overlapping (MPO) FSP was feasible to modify the microstructure of large-sized plate of the NAB.