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In recent days, friction stir processing (FSP) has emerged as a pioneering approach for the manufacture of composites with enhanced mechanical and tribological properties. The present study aims to examine the impact of process parameters such as tool rotation speed and number of FSP pass on the AZ61A/TiC magnesium metal composite for responses such as hardness and wear resistance.

To minimize number of experimental runs, design of experiment was configured according to the response surface methodology using central composite design. Analysis of variance has been conducted to develop mathematical and empirical model for studying relationship between tool rotation and number of pass for responses such as microhardness and wear resistance. Microhardness was checked on vickers microhardness testing machine, and tribological behavior were examined on pin-on-disc using tribotester. Wear morphology was analyzed via scanning electron microscopy.

The responses were predicted using validated mathematical model, and contour plots were generated to study the interaction and influence of process parameters. Wear observations suggest that for the base magnesium alloy adhesive wear mechanism was dominating and for the developed nanocomposites, abrasive wear mechanism is a prominent factor. It was also observed that both the selected parameters significantly influenced the responses.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior work has been conducted with this material and preparation of composites with TiC nanoparticles. Furthermore, no mathematical models have been developed to predict the response values.