WC nano-particle surface injection via laser shock peening onto 5A06 aluminum alloy

A novel technique, named nano-particle surface injection via laser shock peening-NPSI/LSP, for surface modification of light alloys is reported. The WC nano-particles were implanted into a 5A06 aluminum alloy surface under a very high pressure (up to Giga or even tens of Giga Pascal), produced by a Q-switched pulsed Nd:Glass laser system. The results confirmed that the surface performance of the 5A06 aluminum alloy have been dramatically improved by the NPSI/LSP process based on an integrated strengthening mechanism of laser shock peening, nano-particles and nano-particle intensified shock peening.