Effect of laser surface texturing on microstructure and contact angle of Al-Mg alloy
Prashant KAUSHIK, Shashi PRAKASH
Abstract. The importance of Al-Mg alloy has increased worldwide due to its broad industrial applicability. Engineers are interested in Al-Mg alloy because of its numerous engineering uses and reputation as a non-age hardenable alloy. The purpose of laser texturing is to alter the surface’s morphology, chemical content and surface roughness. Surfaces with micro-textured patterns control the surface tension of liquid and, consequently, contact angle. One can alter a material’s wettability behavior by micro-texturizing its surface. Therefore, depending on the needs of the application, surface characteristics that are hydrophobic or hydrophilic are anticipated. The laser patterns were designed on Al-Mg alloy using a nanosecond pulsed laser. It has been studied how surface roughness, contact angle and wettability are affected by scanning speed and no. of lines. Comparative analysis of the laser process parameters on micro-textured surfaces with line and square grid is presented in this research. Two variations (500/1000 mm/s) in scanning speed and four variations (10/15/20/25) in no. of lines are used as a laser process parameter for study. Ossila contact angle goniometer was utilized for measuring contact angle. Moreover, surface morphology has been researched, and measurements of surface roughness are made using an Olympus 3D microscope. The two main factors determining hydrophobicity were scanning speed and number of lines. Scanning speed has a greater impact on surface roughness than line count. For surface roughness, square grid is preferable over line pattern. However, because line patterns have higher measured contact angles than square grid patterns, they are superior to square grid patterns.
Keywords
Laser Surface Texturing, Microstructure, Contact Angle, Wettability, Al-Mg Alloy
Published online 3/1/2025, 11 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Prashant KAUSHIK, Shashi PRAKASH, Effect of laser surface texturing on microstructure and contact angle of Al-Mg alloy, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 49, pp 508-518, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903438-51
The article was published as article 51 of the book Mechanical Engineering for Sustainable Development
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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