Surface treatment is one of the most costly processes for treating metallic components against corrosion. Laser-assisted cold spray (LACS) has an opportunity to decrease those costs particularly in transportation systems, chemical industries, and renewable energy systems. This article highlights some of those potential applications. In the LACS process, a laser beam irradiates the substrate and the particles, thereby softening both of them. Consequently, the particles deform upon impact at the substrate and build up a coating. To circumvent the processing problems associated with cold-spray (CS) deposition of low-temperature, corrosion-resistant Al-12 wt.%Si coatings, a preliminary investigation detailing the effect of laser power on its LACS deposition mechanism and microstructural properties is presented. The deposition efficiency, the microstructure, and the microhardness of the LACSdeposited coatings produced by a 4.4-kW Nd:YAG laser system were evaluated. The outcome of this study shows that pore- and crack-free Al-12 wt.%Si coatings were deposited via softening by laser irradiation and adiabatic shearing phenomena at an optimum laser power of 2.5 kW.
Reference:
Olakanmi, E.O., Tlotleng, M., Meacock, C., Pityana, S. and Doyoyo, M. 2013. Deposition mechanism and microstructure of laser-assisted cold-sprayed (LACS) Al-12 wt.%Si coatings: effects of laser power. JOM: Journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, vol. 65(6), pp 776-783
Olakanmi, E., Tlotleng, M., Meacock, C., Pityana, S. L., & Doyoyo, M. (2013). Deposition mechanism and microstructure of laser-assisted cold-sprayed (LACS) Al-12 wt.%Si coatings: effects of laser power. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7159
Olakanmi, EO, Monnamme Tlotleng, C Meacock, Sisa L Pityana, and M Doyoyo "Deposition mechanism and microstructure of laser-assisted cold-sprayed (LACS) Al-12 wt.%Si coatings: effects of laser power." (2013) http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7159
Olakanmi E, Tlotleng M, Meacock C, Pityana SL, Doyoyo M. Deposition mechanism and microstructure of laser-assisted cold-sprayed (LACS) Al-12 wt.%Si coatings: effects of laser power. 2013; http://hdl.handle.net/10204/7159.
Copyright: 2013 Springer. This is the pre/post print version of the work. The definitive version is published in JOM: Journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, vol. 65(6), pp 776-783