Electrolyte-plasma strengthening of surface layers of aluminum alloy

This article presents the results of studies of the effect of electrolyte-plasma treatment on the structural-phase transformation of aluminum alloy samples. The discharge was ignited from a constant current source. When the voltage is turned on, ionization and boiling of the electrolyte take place. When a bubble boiling occurs around the active electrode, large current pulsations are observed. Due to the formation of the gas-vapor jacket and the passage of electric current through it, a low-temperature plasma is formed which has a characteristic blue color of the glow of the shell around the part. On the surface of the product, an electric microarc plasma is excited, in which heat is generated from the intense heating of the workpiece. After microarc oxidation, a microstructure of quenching and artificial aging in the electrolyte flow is observed on the sample surface. As a result of quenching in the electrolyte stream, the solid copper solution in aluminum and the fine fine inclusions dissolve from the temperature of the microplasma, the phases oxidizing form aluminum corundum. X-ray diffraction analysis of samples after electrolyte-plasma treatment revealed an increase in intensity and broadening of the diffraction lines relative to the initial state, which indicates the residual stress of the surface, which in the process of operation provides an increase in wear resistance of the part. The average microhardness, after electrolytic-plasma treatment, is 746 mpa, which is approximately 2.5 times higher than that of the starting material.