Paper Title :Effects of Rapid Solidification and Fe Content on the Microstructure, Surface Properties of Laser Deposited Al -Fe-Si-Mn Coatings

Author :O.S. Fatoba, S.A. Akinlab1, E.T. Akinlabi

Article Citation :O.S. Fatoba ,S.A. Akinlab1 ,E.T. Akinlabi , (2018 ) " Effects of Rapid Solidification and Fe Content on the Microstructure, Surface Properties of Laser Deposited Al -Fe-Si-Mn Coatings " , International Journal of Mechanical and Production Engineering (IJMPE) , pp. 17-22, Volume-6,Issue-2

Abstract : Aluminum and its alloys have been a successful metal material used for many applications like commodity roles, automotive and vital structural components in aircrafts. A substantial portion of Al-Fe-Si-Mn alloy is also used for manufacturing the packaging foils and sheets for common heat exchanger applications. The present research was aimed at studying the morphology and distribution of the iron-containing intermetallics in the Al-Fe-Si-Mn alloy. These Feintermetallic compounds influence the material properties during rapid cooling by laser alloying technique and play a crucial role for the material quality. Thus, it is of considerable technological interest to control the morphology and distribution of these phases in order to eliminate the negative effects on the microstructure. A 3 kW continuous wave ytterbium laser system (YLS) attached to a KUKA robot which controls the movement of the alloying process was utilized for the fabrication of the coatings at optimum laser parameters. The fabricated coatings were investigated for its hardness and corrosion properties. The field emission scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) were used to study the morphology of the fabricated coatings and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) for the identification of the phases present in the coatings. The coatings were free of cracks and pores with homogeneous and refined microstructures. The enhanced hardness performance was attributed to metastable intermetallic compounds. Keywords - Solidification; Al-Fe-Si-Mn coating; Hardness; Microstructure; Iron

Type : Research paper

Published : Volume-6,Issue-2

	|		PDF	|	Viewed - 57	|	Published on 2018-04-13