Increase in Wear Resistance of the Surface Layers of AK10M2N Silumin at Electron-Beam Treatment

Abstract

It is established that the electron-beam treatment of AK10M2N silumin by a pulsed electron beam with the specific energy of 35 J/cm² leads to the increase in the surface layer microhardness from 0.99 up to 1.18 GPa with the simultaneous decrease in the friction coefficient by 1.3 times and in the wear coefficient by 6.6 times. After irradiation, a multilayer gradient structure is formed in the surface layer of the silumin. In the surface layer, there are no inclusions of the second phase, whereas in the deeper transient layer there are primary precipitations of intermetallic phase, which are the centers of aluminum crystallization. It is found that the changes in the mechanical and tribological properties of the silumin surface layers are associated with significant structural transformations, for instance, with the dissolution of silicon and intermetallics during irradiation of material with a high-intensity pulsed electron beam.