Microstructure and Properties of Aluminum Alloy/Diamond Composite Materials Prepared by Laser Cladding

In this article, AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy was used as the substrate to prepare aluminum alloy/diamond composite materials with laser cladding technology. The effects of the composition and laser power on the microstructure and thermal properties of the composite materials were studied. The results show that the prefabrication of tungsten carbide layer on the diamond surface enhances the wettability of diamond with aluminum alloy and reduces the laser reflection, which ensures the implementability of laser cladding technology for the preparation of aluminum alloy/diamond composites. The laser power and components determine the temperature of the molten pool and thus the state of the organization of the composite material to be formed by cladding. With the increase in the diamond content, the density, specific heat, mechanical properties, and average linear thermal expansion coefficient of the composite material gradually decrease, while the thermal conductivity first increases and then decreases. The thermal conductivity of the aluminum alloy/diamond composite material prepared by laser cladding is 200.68 W/mK, and the linear thermal expansion coefficient is 1.904 x 10-5/K, which are superior to those of the matrix AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy.