Arc enhanced laser melt injection WC particles on Al surface

Abstract

In order to overcome the difficulties of laser melt injection (LMI) on aluminium alloys, the process of tungsten inert gas (TIG) arc enhanced LMI ceramic particles was developed. The influence of process parameters, including laser power, TIG current, the direction of powder feeding, the carrier gas flow of powder and the shield gas flow of TIG, was investigated. The results have shown that to achieve appropriate surface enhancement effect, the powder should be fed from the back side of the laser beam. The depth of the arc enhanced LMI layer increases monotonously with increasing TIG current. The depth of the LMI layer increases first and then decreases with increasing laser power. The carrier gas flow and gas flow of TIG should be matched. Through optimisation of process parameters, WCp/Al layer was prepared successfully on the surface of aluminium alloy. The microstructure of the surface layer prepared by arc enhanced LMI was analysed.