From waste to surface modification of aluminum bronze using selective surface diffusion process

When corrosion is the dominant failure factor in industrial application and at the same time high mechanical properties are required, aluminum bronze is one of the best candidates. Hence, there is a continuous quest for increasing the lifetime of aluminum bronze alloys through enhancing the abrasion and corrosion resistance. Existing methods are based on modifying the bulk properties of alloy or surface modification which required sophisticated equipment and process control. This approach has limited application for advanced components because of high price and difficulty to apply. In this research, we developed an innovative approach to enhance the corrosion and abrasion resistance of aluminum bronze through selective surface diffusion process. In this process, we have used waste materials as input and the modified surface has formed in a single and green process. New surface structure consists of finely dispersed kappa phase (χ ) in uniform alpha (α) solid solution matrix. Results have demonstrated that this uniform diffused modified surface layer has improved hardness of the base material and both corrosion and abrasion resistance has increased. This novel surface modification technique has opened a pathway for using waste materials as input for surface modification of aluminum bronze to meet the needs of industrial applications in a cost effective and environmentally friendly way.