Friction stir processing (FSP) has attracted much attention in the last decade and contributed significantly to the creation of functionally graded materials with both gradient structure and gradient mechanical properties. Subsurface gradient structures are formed in FSPed metallic materials due to ultrafine grained structure formation, surface modification and hardening with various reinforcing particles, fabrication of hybrid and in situ surfaces. This paper is a review of the latest achievements in FSP of non-ferrous metal alloys (aluminum, copper, titanium, and magnesium alloys). It describes the general formation mechanisms of subsurface gradient structures in metal alloys processed by FSP under various conditions. A summary of experimental data is given for the microstructure, mechanical, and tribological properties of non-ferrous metal alloys.

The work is devoted to a review of modern achievements in the field of wire-feed electron beam additive manufacturing. The features of structure formation in aluminum, copper, titanium, nickel-based alloys, and steels during 3D printing are shown. Aspects of directional solidification during the production of components from various metals and alloys are considered. The prospects for obtaining composite and functionally graded materials based on various metals and alloys using wire-feed electron beam additive manufacturing are determined. The regularities of the structure modification and hardening of additively manufactured materials by the method of friction stir processing were considered. The main purpose of the review is to present additive manufacturing methods, the main focus being on the wire-feed electron beam additive manufacturing of metal alloys.

A widespread method exerting the influence on the homogeneous formation of the microstructure and enhancement of strength properties of Al-Si alloys is a modification by super- and nanodispersed particles of different chemical compositions. In spite of the significant advances in the studies of the influence of various modifying compositions on the structure and mechanical properties of casted silumins, the literature contains no data about the influence of nanodispersed W-powder on formation of the structural-phase state and mechanical properties of Al-Si alloys. The paper considers the influence of 0.01–0.5 mass % W nanopowder on the structural-phase state and mechanical properties of an Al-12%Si alloy. It has been established that 0.1 mass % of W is an optimal addition. It results in the uniform distribution of eutectic (α-Al + Si), a 1.5-time decrease in the size of the plates of eutectic Si, a change of the shape of coarse plates (coarse plate-like or acicular) into a fine fibrous one, and an enhancement of the mechanical properties by 16–20%.

Electron beam additive manufacturing with simultaneous feeding of two dissimilar metal wires was used to obtain Ti-6Al-4V specimens successively alloyed with 0.6, 1.6, 6.0 and 9.7 wt % Cu. The specimens were characterized for microstructure, phases, and mechanical properties. Increasing the copper content in the alloy from 0.6 to 9.7 wt % resulted in the refinement of primary β-Ti grains and the columnar-to-equiaxed grain transformation owing to the effect of constitutional undercooling on grain nucleation and growth. The grain growth restriction factor was calculated to substantiate the microstructural evolution from columnar to equiaxed grains. Admixing with up to 6.0 wt % Cu resulted in the formation of ultrathin α-Ti platelets, while increasing the copper content to 9.7 wt % Cu led not only to further thinning of α-Ti platelets but also to the formation of refined α′-Ti and α″-Ti phases. Intermetallic Ti₂Cu particles were precipitated due to the β → Ti₂Cu + α eutectoid decomposition of primary β-Ti grains and then plausibly induced heterogeneous nucleation of α-Ti platelets. A combined effect of solid solution hardening, precipitation hardening, and grain boundary hardening was achieved and allowed increasing the microhardness, ultimate tensile stress, tensile yield stress, and compression yield stress of Ti-6Al-4V/Сu specimens.

This paper is devoted to using multi-pass friction stir processing (FSP) for admixing 1.5 to 30 vol.% copper powders into an AA5056 matrix for the in situ fabrication of a composite alloy reinforced by Al-Cu intermetallic compounds (IMC). Macrostructurally inhomogeneous stir zones have been obtained after the first FSP passes, the homogeneity of which was improved with the following FSP passes. As a result of stirring the plasticized AA5056, the initial copper particle agglomerates were compacted into large copper particles, which were then simultaneously saturated by aluminum. Microstructural investigations showed that various phases such as α-Al(Cu), α-Cu(Al) solid solutions, Cu₃Al and CuAl IMCs, as well as both S and S’-Al₂CuMg precipitates have been detected in the AA5056/Cu stir zone, depending upon the concentration of copper and the number of FSP passes. The number of IMCs increased with the number of FSP passes, enhancing microhardness by 50–55%. The effect of multipass FSP on tensile strength, yield stress and strain-to-fracture was analyzed.