| Summary: | Artificial protrusions fabricated on metal surfaces are adequate for the mechanical interlocking to strengthen the metal/polymer joint. The morphology and its adhesion with the metal substrate of the fabricated protrusions greatly influence the joint strength and joint detachability. However, the large-sized protrusion can cause carbon fiber damage when embedded into the polymer plate, which results in the decline of the joint strength. This paper applied a diode-pumped solid-state laser system to melt stainless powders to fabricate micron-sized protrusions on metal surfaces. The effect of four impacting factors, original powder size, powder bedding thickness, laser power density, and laser irradiation time, on the formation of micro-protrusions was investigated. SEM was used to characterize the morphology and diameter of the formed micro-protrusions. The results showed that the fabricated micro-protrusions present a spherical shape under the stable manufacturing process, and the diameter ranged from 100 µm to 500 µm. The micro-protrusions size positively correlated with the original powder size and powder bedding thickness. Laser power density directly affected the forming of micro-protrusions, and the suitable process window was between 160 W/mm2 to 290 W/mm2. When the laser irradiation time was 10 s, it helped stabilize the fabrication process. © 2022 The Authors
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