No abstract

Bimetals have a unique combination of functional characteristics, which are not inherent to components. Usually, the joining is the final procedure of the bimetals manufacturing because the conditions of heat or thermochemical treatment of the bimetal components are very different. Plasma electrolytic processing is a highly effective and environmentally friendly method to process surfaces of metals and alloys. This technology can be used for heat or thermochemical treatment as well as to clean or polish metal surfaces. Due to the voltage ranges of different modes of the anodic process of plasma electrolytic processing for various metals in the same electrolyte partially overlaps, the components of bimetals can be treated identically or differently. It is demonstrated that there exists an option of separate or simultaneous heat or thermochemical treatment, as well as polishing of one or both components of bimetals. For example, in Ti / Stainless Steel (SS) bimetal, the steel was heated up to 620°C, in Mo / SS one -up to 630°C, in Al / SS one -up to 720 ÷ 850°C without heating of the second component higher than 140°C. Also, an ability of simultaneous polishing of both components of Al / SS bimetal was shown. During 8 min polishing, the reflection coefficients of both surfaces increase from 0.5 ÷ 2 % to >40 %.