Tt. Wong et al., THE SURFACE CHARACTER AND SUBSTRUCTURE OF ALUMINUM-ALLOYS BY LASER-MELTING TREATMENT, Journal of materials processing technology, 66(1-3), 1997, pp. 172-178
A series of laser melted samples of Al-Si alloys with various Si conte
nts were produced using a 2 kW CO2 laser. The surface characteristics
of these laser-treated samples, their microstructures and their substr
uctures were investigated. Experimental results showed that hardened z
ones of specific area and penetration depth on the sample surface can
be obtained with a particular laser power. It was found that the laser
treatment refined the aluminium alloy grains; that silicon crystal in
eutectic was altered morphologically from lath-like into coralline-li
ke; and that the proportion of silicon in the cc-Al was much more than
the saturation content of silicon in the aluminium alloys. After soli
dification, the super-saturated silicon precipitated out in the [110]
direction and in very small rod-like form. X-ray diffraction analysis
of the samples illustrated that the lattice parameters of Al were redu
ced after laser melting. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science S.A.