Machining characteristics of fine grained AZ91 Mg alloy processed by friction stir processing

AZ91 Mg alloy was considered and friction stir processing (FSP) was adopted to achieve grain refinement to investigate the effect of grain size and secondary phase on machining characteristics during drilling at various speeds and feeds. Super saturated AZ91 Mg alloy was obtained after FSP and the grain refinement was achieved from (166.5 +/- 8.7) mu m to (21.7 +/- 13.5) mu m. Surprisingly, hardness reduced for FSP AZ91 Mg alloy (88.95 +/- 6.1) compared with AZ91 alloy (108.2 +/- 15.6), which was attributed to the reduced secondary phase. However, the mean cutting force for FSP-treated (FSPed) AZ91 Mg alloy was marginally increased. The edge damage of the drilled holes was lower for FSPed AZ91 Mg alloy compared with unprocessed AZ91 Mg alloy. Hence, it can be understood that the grain refinement may slightly increase the cutting forces during drilling but better edge finishing can be achieved in machining of AZ91 Mg alloy.