Effect of Different Laser Parameters on Surface Physical Characteristics and Corrosion Resistance of 20 Steel in Laser Cleaning

The rusting of metals brings huge losses to the industry every year, and post-treatment of rusted metals to restore their properties to the initial state is a hot topic of current research. In particular, 20 steel, which is widely used in various structural components such as ships, is prone to oxidation in atmospheric environment. Therefore, in this study, a nanosecond pulsed laser was used to remove the rust layer on the surface of 20 steel. The effects of different energy densities and spot overlap rates on the roughness, surface morphology, chemical composition, microhardness and corrosion resistance of the rust layer were analyzed. The results showed that the best cleaning effect was achieved at an energy density of 4.26 J/cm2 and a spot overlap rate of 75%. Under these conditions, the rust layer was completely removed without damage to the substrate, and it even improved the corrosion resistance of 20 steel. At energy densities of 1.42 J/cm2 and 2.84 J/cm2, the rust layer was not completely removed, while at 5.68 J/cm2, the rust layer was removed but the substrate was damaged. In addition, the mechanism of rust removal and substrate damage is discussed.