More and more structural members have been fabricated by using the premium aluminum alloy 7075 (AA7075) because of its excellent properties such as ultra high strength and very high specific strength. However, the AA7075 is a difficult-to-clad material, which usually can not meet the harsh long-term service requirements for the corrosive environments and/or under the wear working conditions. Accordingly, in this study, the novel FeAl50CrNi composite powder, which is the Fe-Al based alloy cladding powder properly mixed by SS304, Fe60 and Al with a recommended weight percent ratio of 2:3:5, is first reported based on the composition ratio design, comparison and proper selection. Assisted by preheating and heat preservation, the FeAl50CrNi composite powder was utilized for carrying out laser cladding experiments on the AA7075 plate surfaces via altering key laser parameters. It was indicated that the challenging problems (e.g., serious occurrence of cracks and pores, incomplete melt, slag entrapment, as well as poor interface fusion and joining) usually encountered during laser cladding for aluminum alloys were concurrently well solved by using the newly-developed composite cladding powder, as well as preferred defocus distance of −5 mm, focal spot diameter of 4.5 mm, and laser power of 1600 W. That is to say, the high-quality FeAl50CrNi composite coatings, which were well melted, mixed, fused and then metallurgically and reliably bound onto the AA7075 plate surfaces, were successfully achieved nearly without cladding defects by using laser cladding in this work. As compared to the AA7075 substrate, the wear resistance and corrosion resistance of laser cladded high-quality FeAl50CrNi composite coatings were improved concurrently and effectively by using a proper laser power of 1600 W. Such improvements achieved were reported in terms of a maximum micro hardness improvement of 116.67%, an averaged friction coefficient reduction of 31.43%, a wear loss reduction of 77.66% during half an hour, and a reduction of 31.23% in corrosion current density. As demonstrated, as a result of the notable alterations in terms of the effective energy inputs, laser fluences, heating–cooling rates and element diffusion, the microstructure characteristics notably altered from the coating top to the fusion zone inside the laser cladded area. Interestingly, these internal coating microstructure changes were characterized primarily by means of the dispersively distributed acicular Fe-Al intermetallic compounds (coating top), the dispersively distributed tiny second phase particles (coating middle), and the fine equiaxed and columnar grains (fusion zone). Importantly, such microstructure characteristics made the coatings possess the overall good mechanical performance in strength, ductility and toughness, micro hardness, wear resistance and corrosion resistance.
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