Preparation of the wear and corrosion-resistant coating using a composite process of laser surface texturing technology and plasma electrolytic oxidation

Abstract

In this study, a composite process consisting of laser surface texture imitating fish scale shapes and plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) was used on the surface of aluminum alloy metals to prepare wear- and corrosion-resistant coatings. Before the conventional plasma electrolytic oxidation, the laser was used to prepare the imitation fish scale shape texture on the aluminum alloy surface. It was found that the PEO coating could cover the splash ablation particles left by the laser, while the imitation fish scale shape structure was enough to improve the tribological properties of the PEO coating, and the coating prepared by the combination of the two processes had a more stable friction coefficient, excellent corrosion resistance, and good resistance to abrasion corrosion. In this paper, the microstructure and composition of the coatings were characterized by metallurgical microscopy, XRD, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and the protection mechanism and the physical model of the coatings prepared by the composite process were presented and discussed. In summary, the use of the composite process provides a feasible idea for improving the performance of aluminum alloys.