发展了一种新的强化方法——基于激光冲击的纳米颗粒注入强化,即利用激光冲击产生的GPa量级压力将预置的纳米WC颗粒注入铝合金表面实现复合强化。激光冲击强化技术利用光致冲击波作用材料表面,引入残余应力,提高材料表面性能。作为一种冷加工手段,这种方法避免了铝合金常规热强化方法容易产生的低熔点元素烧损、气孔、裂纹等缺陷,也避免了常规添加纳米材料强化时纳米颗粒由于熔点较低所造成的熔化凝固而失去纳米特性的问题。研究了激光冲击纳米WC颗粒的工艺、参数影响,复合强化层的硬度、残余应力和摩擦学性能等。研究表明,激光冲击注入WC纳米颗粒增强复合涂层表面硬度相对初始状态提高了20%,表面残余应力状态由拉应力状态转变为压应力状态,其耐磨性是原始铝合金的5倍,是单纯激光冲击的1.5倍。
We have developed a novel process: nano powder implanting via laser shock peening process, by which the nano powders are squeezed into the surface layer of light metal alloys by the very high pressure (up to giga pascals) induced by the laser shock peening process. Laser shock peening hardens the material surface by the laser- induced shock wave and the residual compressive stress, it is typically a cold process, which is capable of avoiding the defects like the melting loss of the lower-melting-point elements, porosity, cracking and surface deterioration associated with a conventional thermal hardening approaches of aluminum alloys. This also eliminates the problem when hardening a material with nanoparticles, that is, the easy melting of nano particles in a melt pool and then solidified a microstructure without nano characteristics. This paper reports the work on nano WC powder implanting onto aluminium alloy surface by laser shock peening, focusing on the process development, parameter influence, microstructure, hardness, residual stress and wear resistance. The research approves that after implanting of WC nano particles by laser shock peening, the surface hardness of aluminum alloy is enhanced by 20 %, wear resistance increases 5 times than that of original aluminum and 1.5 times than that of the only laser shock peened surface. The surface tensile state of aluminum alloy is changed to be beneficial compressive state at the same time.