Optimization Study of Compound Electrolytes for Aluminum Alloy Micro-Arc Oxidation
For obtaining a thick ceramic coating with good film-forming and wear resistance,a new type of composite electrolyte was composed of sodium phosphate and sodium hexametaphosphate as the basic electrolytes,while sodium tungstate and sodium tetraborate were added as ad-ditives. In this composite electrolyte system,micro-arc oxidation treatment was performed on 1060 aluminum alloy. Using the coating thickness and surface porosity as optimization indicators,the electrolyte formula was optimized using the L9(34) orthogonal test. Meanwhile,the micro-structure,surface porosity,phase composition,thickness,microhardness and wear resistance of ceramic coatings prepared under this electro-lyte formula were studied systematically. Results showed that the ceramic coating prepared with a formula of Na3PO4 concentration of 32.0 g/L,Na2B4O7 concentration of 16.0 g/L,Na2WO4 concentration of 4.5 g/L and (NaPO3) 6 concentration of 30.0 g/L had the structure with uniform micropores and dense film layer,the thickness of 22.8 μm,the porosity of 3.86%,and the microhardness of 475 HV. Furthermore,the wear resistance of the coating was significantly improved compared to the substrate,and the ceramic coating were mainly composed of γ-Al2O3 and a small amount of α-Al2O3 composition.