Laser materials processing for improved corrosion performance

Laser materials processing is a burgeoning field of materials research. The power from a laser is used to heat, melt or ablate materials to change their character or topography. Their application to improve the corrosion performance of many types of metallic alloy and some composites can be broken down into four basic categories: laser melting, where the surface of the alloy is melted, which in turn changes the microstructure and in many cases improves corrosion, laser surface alloying, where a new material is introduced to surface during the laser melting process, which changes the microstructure and in many cases the corrosion performance. laser cladding, where a new more corrosion resistant material is added to the surface to improve the corrosion resistance, laser heating, where a solid state phase transformation is induced to change the microstructure to improve corrosion performance. The field has been around for almost as long as laser material processing itself and it is the purpose of this chapter to discuss the development in these four areas, to give the reader an overview of the applications of laser material processing for improved corrosion performance.