FEATURE MATERIALS IN MARINE

Laser Surface Engineering Improving the All-Around

Corrosion Behaviour of Nickel-Aluminium Bronze
Ryan Cottam1,5, Vladimir Luzin2, Darren Edwards3,5, AmitMajumdar3,5, Milan Brandt4,5
Industrial Laser Applications Laboratory, IRIS, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, SwinburneUniversity of Technology,
Victoria, 3122, Australia
2
ANSTO, LucasHeights, New South Wales, 2232, Australia
3
Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Fishermans Bend, Victoria, 3207, Australia
4
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, Victoria, 3083, Australia
5
Defence Materials Technology Centre, Victoria, 3122, Australia

1

Nickel-Aluminium Bronze (NAB)

is the workhorse of metallic
ship components such as
valves and propellers, which are
exposed to sea water. NABs
excellent combination of strength
and resistance to corrosive
attack is what makes it widely
used in marine environments.
However, unlike scientific testing
environments used to evaluate
the specific corrosion properties
of metals, in practice marine
components are exposed to a
range of corrosive environments.
A typical NAB component will be exposed
to conditions that are conducive to stagnant
sea water corrosion (when the ship is
docked), cavitation corrosion (when the
propeller or valve is in use) or selective
phase corrosion, which NAB suffer from
due to its microstructural characteristics [1].
NAB is typically used in the cast condition
due to the all-around ability to resist many
forms of corrosion mentioned above.
While its performance is good, methods
to extend the life of NAB components can
save the shipping industry thousands of
dollars annually by increasing the period
between maintenance operations. The key
to doing this is improving the all-around
corrosive performance of NAB and given
that corrosion is a surface process, surface
engineering offers this potential.
The application of surface engineering
techniques, in particular laser processing
was recognised by the Maritime Platforms
Division, Defence Science and Technology
Organisation (DSTO), which gave rise to
a Defence Materials Technology (DMTC)
project on the topic. The DMTC brought
together the laser processing capability of
Swinburne University of Technology, the
corrosion testing facilities of DSTO and the
residual stress capability of ANSTO, which

28 | december 2012

were all used in the development and

evaluation of the laser surface engineering
technique.
Laser surface melting (LSM) is a technique
where the surface of a metal is melted
and the fast cooling rate of melted region
after the laser has passed, results in a
homogenous microstructure (second
phase particles are dissolved and not
re-precipitated) that shows improved
corrosion performance. While this
technique has been successful for many
metallic alloys, its application to NAB is
not successful. The reason for this is that
NAB when cooled fast forms a martensitic
Widmanstatten microstructure, which
is hard but exhibits poor stagnant sea
water corrosion characteristics. So while
its cavitation corrosion performance is
improved, its overall corrosion performance
is reduced.

'Laser surface melting

(LSM) is a technique
where the surface of
a metal is melted and
the fast cooling rate
of melted region after
the laser has passed,
results in a homogenous
microstructure (second
phase particles are
dissolved and not reprecipitated) that shows
improved corrosion
performance. While
this technique has
been successful for
many metallic alloys, its
application to NAB is
not successful.'

Figure 1- Optical Micrographs of Nickel-Aluminium bronze

in; a- the as cast condition; b after laser processing.

Therefore it was decided to try a different

laser surfacing technique of solid state
heating. In this technique the surface
of the metal is heated to just below its
melting point and the dwell time at
temperature is such that solid state phase
transformations can occur, thus changing
the microstructure of the material. This
technique is an industrial process which
is used to surface hardened steels for
wear applications and is known as laser
transformation hardening. The formation of
a _ phase at elevated temperature and the
dissolution of the kIII precipitation during
the transformation meant that this type of
processing was possible for NAB.
Employing a two phase diffusion model and
an analytical model for laser heating, the
dwell time and laser processing parameters
were determined[2]. The processing was

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FEATURE MATERIALS IN MARINE

therefore the aluminium in the laser

processed structure is more evenly
distributed and is responsible for the
improvement in the corrosion performance.

Figure 2 - Linear polarisation electro chemical testis of Nickel-Aluminium Bronze both as cast and
laser processed, measured at DSTO.

conducted and it was found that the kIII

precipitate had been dissolved and the
Widmanstatten microstructure had been
avoided, Figure 1.
Now that the surfacing technique had been
developed the evaluation of its corrosion
performance was required. This involved
electro-chemical testing, which is an
indication of the performance in stagnant
sea water and cavitation corrosion testing,
which is an indication of its dynamic
performance. The tests were conducted

at DSTO and the results of the electrochemical tests are shown in Figure 2.
It is apparent from Figure 2 that the
current density for the laser processed
sample is lower and occurs at a higher
potential, which indicates that its corrosion
performance had been improved.
Microstructurally the difference between
the NAB structures is that the kiii
precipitate had been dissolved for the
laser processed material. This precipitate
is composed of Aluminium and Nickel;

'Now that the

surfacing technique
had been developed
the evaluation of its
corrosion performance
was required. This
involved electrochemical testing, which
is an indication of the
performance in stagnant
sea water and cavitation
corrosion testing, which
is an indication of its
dynamic performance.'
Cavitation corrosion testing was then
conducted to evaluate its performance
against not only the as cast samples but
also an extruded samples and the known to
be superior LSM sample. The results of the
testing are shown in Figure 3.
It is apparent from this figure that the laser

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december 2012 | 29

FEATURE MATERIALS IN MARINE

melted and laser processed samples are

approximately the same and far superior to
the as cast and extruded samples. Hardness
measurements of the LSM and laser
processed samples shows that the hardness
of the processed sample is lower, Figure 4.

Figure 3 Cavitation corrosion testing of Nickel-Aluminium Bronze in the as cast, extruded, laser
melted and laser processed conditions, measured at DSTO.

Given that increasing hardness increases

cavitation corrosion resistance[3], then the
laser processed should be inferior but it is
not. Analysis of the residual stress of the
laser melted and laser processed samples
demonstrates why the two types of structure
are comparable, Figure 5. The laser melted
samples has a tensile residual stress of
100MPa at the surface and can be attributed
to the steep thermal gradient of the process,
whereas the laser processed samples is
only 10MPa and is due to a lower thermal
gradient during processing. Therefore the
available strength for the LSM sample is
reduced due to the residual stress and in turn
reduces the cavitation corrosion performance.

'Corrosion testing
has shown the new
technique has not
only improved electrochemical corrosion
behaviour but has also
improved cavitation
corrosion behaviour.'
Figure 4 Micro-hardness traverses of Nickel aluminium Bronze in the laser process and laser
melted conditions.

Through the collaborative nature of the

DMTC a new surface engineering technique
for NAB has been developed. Corrosion
testing has shown the new technique
has not only improved electro-chemical
corrosion behaviour but has also improved
cavitation corrosion behaviour. Once
adopted by ship builders, this technology
will reduce the cost of ownership of NAB
components by lengthening the time
between maintenance schedules.
References
1. Wharton, J.A., et al., The corrosion of
nickel-aluminium bronze in sea water.
Corrosion Science, 2005. 47:
p. 3336-3367.
2. Cottam, R. and M. Brandt, Development
of a Processing Window for the
Transformation Hardening of NickelAluminium-Bronze. Materials Science
Forum, 2010. 654-656: p. 1916-1919.

Figure 5 Residual stress profile of the laser melted and laser processed samples measured at ANSTO
on the Kowari strain scanner.

30 | december 2012

3. Tang, C.H., F.T. Cheng, and H.C. Man,

Improvment in cavitation erosion
resistance of a copper-based propeller
alloy by laser surface melting. Surface
and Coatings Technology, 2004. 182:
p. 300-307.
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