Effect of laser surface melting on microstructure evolution and cavitation behavior of nickel aluminum bronze

The laser surface melting was employed on the nickel aluminum bronze to augment the cavitation performance. To investigate the effect of laser treatment, the microstructure was characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. And the cavitation behavior was tested on an ultrasonic vibratory machine. The results show that the optimal process parameter with laser power of 3 kW and scanning speed of 10 mm/s contributes to the increased corrosion resistance and reduced cavitation mass loss, compared with the cast sample, respectively. The enhancement of the cavitation resistance is dominated by the synergistic mechanism of grain refinement strengthening, dislocation strengthening, and precipitate strengthening, with the homogeneous structure eliminating selective corrosion.

Automated summary

Laser surface melting was used to improve the cavitation performance of nickel aluminum bronze. The microstructure was characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Cavitation behavior was tested on an ultrasonic vibratory machine. The results showed that the optimal process parameters were a laser power of 3 kW and a scanning speed of 10 mm/s, which resulted in increased corrosion resistance and reduced cavitation mass loss compared to the cast sample. The enhanced cavitation resistance was attributed to the synergistic mechanism of grain refinement strengthening, dislocation strengthening, and precipitate strengthening, as well as the elimination of selective corrosion through a homogeneous structure.