Study on Enhancing Mechanical Properties of Tin Bronze Alloy Using Laser Technique

Abstract

This work aims to find low-cost ways and means to improve some special characteristics of the samples used. Tin bronze samples were prepared and machined with dimensions of 15mm×15mm×20 mm for surface roughness and micro hardness tests and machined as two cylindrical bars with diameters of 20 and 15 mm and length of 170 mm for torsion test. Laser shock processing by Nd-YAG laser with wavelength of 532 nm and transparent confinement layer was used to modify the sample surface to improve the surface roughness and micro hardness .The enhancement of torsion strength was achieved by Nd-YAG laser treatment without confinement layer. Different exposure times and laser effect distances were used to achieve the purpose of this work. The torsion strength results exhibited that the values increased with percentage of 44% at the best case, whereas the values of surface roughness increased by twofold. Finally the laser treatment improved the micro hardness by 53%.