Increase of wear-resistance of the surface layers of silumin AK10M2N by electron-beam treatment
Eﬀect of the pulsed irradiation with high-intensity electron-beam with an energy density of 35 J/cm2 on the microhardness and tribological properties of the AK10M2N silumin alloy has been investigated. It is established that electron-beam treatment leads to increasing the microhardness of the surface layer from 0.99 to 1.18 GPa with simultaneous decreasing the coeﬃcient of friction and wear parameter (magnitude which is inversely proportional to wear resistance). Coeﬃcient of friction is decreased by ~1.3 times, the wear parameter decreased - by ~6.6 times. With the help of scanning electron microscopy it has been established that irradiation of the AK10M2N silumin leads to the formation of a multilayer gradient structure in the surface layer, which can be conditionally divided into three regions: surface, transient and heat-aﬀected zone layer. The surface layer is characterized by an absence of primary precipitations of the second phase. These precipitations of intermetallic phases are existing in the transient layer and they are act as centers of crystallization of aluminum. It is established that the essential changes in the structure such as dissolution of silicon and intermetallides are occurred in silumin alloy after irradiation with pulsed high-intensity electron beam which lead to the change of the mechanical and tribological properties of silumin alloy surface.