Effect of narrow pulse width laser cleaning on corrosion resistance of A5083-H111 aluminum alloy

Abstract

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.

Citation

Wang, F., Ai, S., Wang, Q., Cheng, Y., Huang, H., Cai, C., Xie, D., Chen, H. and Hu, W. (2021), "Effect of narrow pulse width laser cleaning on corrosion resistance of A5083-H111 aluminum alloy", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 68 No. 3, pp. 192-201. https://doi.org/10.1108/ACMM-12-2020-2414