Carbon steel wettability characteristics enhancement for improved enamelling using a 1.2 kW high power diode laser

Abstract

High-power diode laser (HPDL) surface treatment of a common engineering carbon steel(EN8) was found to effect significant changes to the wettability characteristics of the metal. These modifications have been investigated in terms of the changes in the surface roughness of the steel, the presence of any surface melting, the polar component of the steel surface energy and the relative surface oxygen content of the steel. The morphological and wetting characteristics of the mild steel and the enamel were determined using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and wetting experiments by the sessile drop technique. This work has shown that HPDL radiation can be used to alter the wetting characteristics of carbon steel so as to facilitate improved enamelling