Study on Wear Resistance of Nickel Cladding Layer with Imitation Shell Convex Strip Structure on the Surface of 7075 Aluminum Alloy Drill Pipe

In this study, a nickel cladding layer with a bionic convex strip structure was applied to the surface of an aluminum alloy drill pipe, and laser cladding technology was used to improve the wear resistance of the aluminum alloy drill pipe. Firstly, by observing the morphological characteristics of the shell surface, the ratio of the width of the convex strips to the spacing between the convex strips was obtained as 0.39–0.53, and thus a model of the bionic structure was constructed. Numerical simulations were performed, and the results showed that the wear of the bionic structure was reduced by 77.6% compared with that of the smooth structure. Subsequently, the cladding layers of both structures were coated on the drill pipe using nickel powder as the material, and wear tests were performed. The microstructure, composition, and hardness behavior of the cladding layers were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, an X-ray diffractometer, and a microhardness tester. It was found that the cladding layer mainly consists of Al₃Ni₂, and there is a transition layer between the cladding layer and the aluminum alloy matrix, whose hardness is lower than that of Al₃Ni₂. In addition, the groove space can be formed between the convex strips, which effectively reduces the frequency of the debris flow. The results of the wear tests show that the wear of the cladding layer with the bionic structure is reduced by 74.0%. Similar results in numerical simulations and experiments verified that the designed cladding layer with a bionic convex strip structure can significantly improve the wear resistance of aluminum alloy drill pipes.