A Study on Laser Grooving Surface Morphology and Ablation Mechanism of SiC_p /Al Composites

Precise grooving of functional microstructures on the surface of SiC particle reinforced aluminum matrix (SiC_p/Al) composites (such as sensor wiring slots, etc.) is of great significance for avoiding additional assembly processes and expanding the application of multi-functional integrated lightweight components. In this paper, taking SiC_p/Al composites containing SiC particles(its volume fraction is 70%)as the object, the effects of different laser grooving processing process parameters (power and scanning spacing) on the surface morphology (proportion of ablation area, roughness, microstructure) of the composites are studied, the composition information change before and after laser grooving is analyzed and the ablation mechanism of the composites is revealed. The research results show that as the scanning spacing decreases, the surface roughness of the material gradually increases, and the arithmetic mean deviation of the contour R_a increases from 19.23 μm of the sample with a scanning spacing of 200 μm to 25.21 μm of the sample with a scanning spacing of 150 μm and 30.63 μm of the sample with a scanning spacing of 100 μm respectively. The surface of the laser grooving ablation area is mainly an Al₂O₃ oxide layer with nanoscale SiC particles on it. The main reason is that the low-melting-point Al alloy matrix reacts due to the dual effects of thermal expansion and surface tension. This study provides an important reference for the process parameter optimization and the ablation mechanism study of the laser grooving of the SiC_p/Al composites surface.