The structure and mechanical properties of AlMg5Si2Mn alloy after surface alloying by the use of fiber laser

Laser surface treatment is successfully applied to increase hardness as well as corrosion and wear resistance in light alloys such as aluminum or magnesium. The laser surface remelting also can be used to repair superficial cracks, voids or porosity caused by the mechanical impact, metallurgical process as well as the corrosive environment on the surface of the aluminum alloy. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the influence of a fiber laser surface treatment on the structure and properties of the EN AC AlMg5Si2Mn alloy. The goal of this investigation was to increase the hardness and improve tribological properties of the aluminum alloy surface as a result of the conducted laser surface treatment. During laser processing, the top surface of the aluminum alloy was enriched with Cr and Ni particles. The grain size of the applied particles was approximately about 60–130 m. The Cr–Ni powder has been introduced in the molten pool using vacuum feeder at a constant rate of 4.5 g/min. For surface remelting we used square laser beam at a size 3 × 3 mm and with the power of 3.0 kW. The linear laser scan rate of the beam was set at 0.5 m/min. Argon was used to protect the liquid metal alloy during surface treatment. Application of the laser treatment on aluminum alloy has enabled to obtain much harder as well as better wear resistant material compared to the untreated EN AC AlMg5Si2Mn.