Quick surface treatment of AZ31B by AC micro-arc oxidation

Abstract

In order to explore an effective way to shorten treatment time and enhance the quality of treatment coating, AC micro-arc oxidation was conducted to treat the surface of AZ31B deformation magnesium alloy in KF+KOH treatment solution. The influences of micro-arc oxidation parameters such as concentration of KF, concentration of KOH, output voltage of booster, temperature of treatment solution, and treatment time on treatment coating thickness were raveled out under different conditions. The structure and composition of treatment coating were determined, the growth mechanism of treatment coating was discussed, and the quick surface treatment technology for compact treatment coating with maximum thickness was developed. The experimental results show that: A maximum 33 μm-thick compact treatment coating, consisting of MgF₂ and MgO mainly, can be formed on AZ31B in 112s under the conditions of 1 132 g/L KF, 382 g/L KOH, 66 V for output voltage of booster and 34 °C of treatment solution which were optimized by a genetic algorithm from the model established by artificial neural networks. There are no “crater-shaped” pores in this treatment coating as the heat shock resulting from the smooth variation of AC sinusoidal voltage is far smaller than that of the rigidly varied DC or pulse current. The treatment time is only one sixth of that adopted in the other surface treatment technology at best, principally for the reason that the coating can always grow irrespective of the electric potential of AZ31B. This investigation lays a firm foundation for the extensive application of magnesium alloy.

Keywords

AZ31B deformation magnesium alloy / quick surface treatment / AC micro-arc oxidation

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