Study on the characteristics and mechanism of pulsed laser cleaning of polyacrylate resin coating on aluminum alloy substrates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to promote the corrosion resistance of the 5083-111H aluminum alloy by laser cleaning. Design/methodology/approach Laser with 2 ns pulse width was adopted in this project and the corrosion resistance of cleaned samples was tested by copper-accelerated salt spray (CASS). The surface morphology, elemental composition and distribution were then characterized by SEM. Moreover, surface morphology, elemental composition and distribution were also tested. Findings Results suggested a higher corrosion resistance was successfully obtained by laser cleaning. Compared with samples cleaned by 2000 grit sandpaper, mechanical cleaning resulted in a 53% larger height difference between the peak and valley. The content of the oxygen is 8.85% on the surface cleaned mechanically and the distribution is dependent on the distribution of aluminum whereas that of the laser cleaning sample is 24.41% and the distribution existed even in the Al-poor area. Originality/value In this project, the 2-ns laser cleaning was proved to have the capability to remove the oxide layer on the aluminum alloy surface while retaining an excellent corrosion resistance and smooth surface. Meanwhile, a thorough elemental distribution and smaller grain size lead to a smaller difference in elemental concentration. This retards the diffusion of oxygen into the substrate and hence increases the corrosion resistance of the surface.

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Investigation on the Surface Properties of 5A12 Aluminum Alloy after Nd: YAG Laser Cleaning

Coatings ◽

10.3390/coatings9090578 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 578 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Guodong Zhu ◽

Shouren Wang ◽

Wei Cheng ◽

Gaoqi Wang ◽

Wentao Liu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Corrosion Resistance ◽

Aluminum Alloy ◽

Laser Cleaning ◽

Alloy Surface ◽

Residual Tensile Stress ◽

Yag Laser ◽

Diode Pumped ◽

Aluminum Alloy Surface ◽

Diode Pumped Nd:Yag Laser

The surface of the aluminum alloy is prone to oxidation, which in turn affects the quality of the weld. The 5A12 aluminum alloy was cleaned by acousto-optic Q-switched diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser and the effects of different laser powers and different cleaning speeds on the surface roughness, microstructure, element content, microhardness, residual stress and corrosion resistance of aluminum alloy were investigated. The results show that when the power is 98W and the cleaning speed is 4.1 mm/s, the effect of Nd: YAG laser on the removal of oxide film on 5A12 aluminum alloy surface is the most effective. After laser cleaning, the smoothness and strength of aluminum alloy surface can be effectively improved. However, as a major element in 5A12 aluminum alloy, the content of magnesium decreased. At the same time, the residual tensile stress was generated on the surface of the aluminum alloy after cleaning, and the corrosion resistance slightly decreased.

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