Laser-arc treatment of aluminium alloys

Abstract: The increasing use of aluminium alloys in high demand applications has lead to the development of a number of surface treatment technologies designed to improve hardness and wear characteristics. This thesis investigates the combination of a high power laser beam and an electric arc to produce new surfaces on aluminium alloys. Topics covered include: ' The physics of the laser-arc-material surface interaction ' Surface remelting of aluminium alloys ' Surface alloying of aluminium alloys with Si, Fe and Ni ' Arc stabilisation by laser irradiation ' Optimisation of the laser-arc process parameters ' Metallographic examination of the surfaces generated by laser-arc melting and analysis of the solidification rates. It was discovered that the addition of an arc source to the laser-material interaction lead to an improvement of surface properties and production rates.