Aluminium is vastly used in industry due to its low cost, light weight and excellent workability, but lacks in wear resistance and hardness. Laser alloying is used to improve the surface properties such as hardness by modifying the composition and microstructure of the surface without affecting the bulk properties of the material. The process involves melting the substrate surface and injecting the powder of the alloying material into the melt pool. Process parameters such as laser power, beam spot size, laser scan speed and powder feed rate have to be controlled to achieve the desired surface properties.
Reference:
Mabhali, L.A.B., Pityana, S.L. and Sacks, N. 2010. Laser alloying of aluminium to improve surface properties. Proceedings of the 46th Conference of the Microscopy Society of Southern Africa (MSSA), Bela-Bela, South Africa, 21-25 July 2010
Mabhali, L. A., Pityana, S. L., & Sacks, N. (2010). Laser alloying of aluminium to improve surface properties - MSSA 2010. Microscopy Society of Southern Africa (MSSA). http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4789
Mabhali, Luyolo AB, Sisa L Pityana, and N Sacks. "Laser alloying of aluminium to improve surface properties - MSSA 2010." (2010): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4789
Mabhali LA, Pityana SL, Sacks N, Laser alloying of aluminium to improve surface properties - MSSA 2010; Microscopy Society of Southern Africa (MSSA); 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4789 .
