LASER CLADDING OF MAGNESIUM ALLOY AZ91D WITH SILICON CARBIDE

Mg alloys are ultralight but their structural applications are often limited by their poor wear and corrosion resistance. The research aimed to address the problem by laser-cladding. Cladding with SiC powder onto surface of AZ91D was carried out using Nd:YAG laser. The laser-clad surface was analyzed using the optical microscope, SEM equipped with EDS, and XRD and found to contain SiC and other Si compounds such as Mg2Si and Al3.21Si0.47 as well as much refined α-Mg grains and β-Mg17Al12 intermetallics. The laser-clad surface possesses considerably higher hardness but its corrosion resistance is not improved, indicating that the laser-cladding technique can only be adopted for applications in noncorrosive environments where wear is the predominant problem.