Laser induction hybrid rapid cladding of WC particles reinforced NiCrBSi composite coatings

In order to investigate the microstructure characteristics and properties of Ni-based WC composite coatings containing a relatively large amount of WC particles by laser induction hybrid rapid cladding (LIHRC) and compare to the individual laser cladding without preheating, Ni60A + 35 wt.% WC composite coatings are deposited on A3 steel plates by LIHRC and the individual laser cladding without preheating. The composite coating produced by the individual laser cladding without preheating exhibits many cracks and pores, while the smooth composite coating without cracks and pores is obtained by LIHRC. Moreover, the cast WC particles take on the similar dissolution characteristics in Ni60A + 35 wt.% WC composite coatings by LIHRC and the individual laser cladding without preheating. Namely, the completely dissolved WC particles interact with Ni-based alloy solvent to precipitate the blocky and herringbone carbides, while the partially dissolved WC particles still preserve the primary lamellar eutectic structure. A few WC particles are split at the interface of WC and W₂C, and then interact with Ni-based alloy solvent to precipitate the lamellar carbides. Compared with the individual laser cladding without preheating, LIHRC has the relatively lower temperature gradient and the relatively higher laser scanning speed. Therefore, LIHRC can produce the crack-free composite coating with relatively higher microhardness and relatively more homogeneous distribution of WC particles and is successfully applied to strengthen the corrugated roller, showing that LIHRC process has a higher efficiency and good cladding quality.     

Microstructure and properties of TiB2–TiB reinforced titanium matrix composite coating by laser cladding

TiB₂ particle and TiB short fiber reinforced titanium matrix composite coatings were prepared utilizing in situ synthesized technique by laser cladding on the surface of Ti6Al4V alloy. Through the experiment, it was found that the surface of the single-track coatings appeared in the depression, but it can be improved by laser track overlapping. With the increase of laser power density, the amount of TiB short fiber was increased, and the distribution of TiB₂ and TiB became more uniform from the top to bottom. The micro-hardness of TiB₂/TiB coating showed a gradient decreasing trend, and the average micro-hardness of the coatings was two-fold higher than that of the substrate. Due to the strengthening effect of TiB₂ particle and TiB short fiber, the wear volume loss of the center of the coating was approximately 30% less than that of the Ti–6Al–4V substrate, and the wear mechanism of the coating was mild fatigue particle detachment.     

Microstructure of yttric calcium phosphate bioceramic coatings synthesized by laser cladding

The yttric calcium phosphate (CaP) coatings were in situ prepared on pure titanium substrate by laser cladding. The morphologies and phases constitution of CaP coatings were studied by electron probe microanalysis, X-ray diffraction and so on. The bonding state between the coating and the substrate is fine metallurgical combination, and the addition of yttria can fine the structure and increase the tensile strength of the coatings. The X-ray result shows that the coating is composed of the phases of HA, α-Ca₂P₂O₇, β-Ca₂P₂O₇ and CaTiO₃.     

The crack control during laser cladding by adding the stainless steel net in the coating

The generation of crack is one of the key problems which restrict the development of laser cladding technique. The purpose of this study is to control the cracks during laser cladding by adding a plastic phase—an austenitic stainless steel net in the coatings. With Ni-, Co- and Fe-based alloy powders, laser cladding experiments were carried out. The microstructure of the coatings and the stainless steel net was investigated. Experimental results show that the stainless steel net is partly melted and strongly bonded to the cladding powder materials and the substrate. Thus the crack density is significantly reduced. The amount of the reduction increases as the diameter of the stainless steel net increases. Without preheating the substrate, large area coatings which remain free of cracks can be achieved when adding the stainless steel net with appropriate diameter. The characteristics of the coatings were investigated and the results indicate that the hardness fluctuations of the coatings become larger and the wear resistance decreases when adding 316 stainless steel net.     

Phase composition and tribological properties of Ti-Al coatings produced on pure Ti by laser cladding

Ti-Al coatings with ∼14.7, 18.1, 25.2 and 29.7 at.% Al contents were fabricated on pure Ti substrate by laser cladding. The laser cladding Ti-Al coatings were analyzed with X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). It was found that with the increase of Al content, the diffraction peaks shifted gradually to higher 2θ values. The laser cladding Ti-Al coatings with 14.7 and 18.1 at.% Al were composed of α-Ti and α₂-Ti₃Al phases, while those with 25.2 and 29.7 at.% Al were composed of α₂-Ti₃Al phase. With the increase of Al content, the cross-sectional hardness increased, while the fracture toughness decreased. For the laser cladding Ti-Al coatings, when the Al content was ≤18.1 at.%, the wear mechanism was adhesive wear and abrasive wear; while when the Al content ≥25.2 at.%, the wear mechanism was adhesive wear, abrasive wear and microfracture. With the increase of Al content, the wear rate of laser cladding Ti-Al coatings decreased under 1 N normal load, while the wear rate firstly decreased and then increased under a normal load of 3 N. Due to its optimized combination of high hardness and high fracture toughness, the laser cladding Ti-Al coating with 18.1 at.% Al showed the best anti-wear properties at higher normal load.     

Effects of processing parameters on structure of Ni-based WC composite coatings during laser induction hybrid rapid cladding

The relationships between the processing parameters (i.e. laser specific energy, powder density, preheated temperature of substrate and types of substrate) and the structure characteristics of Ni-based WC composite coatings during laser induction hybrid rapid cladding (LIHRC) were investigated systematically. The results show that laser specific energy, cladding height and contact angle have a linear relation with powder density, as can provide the predictions of laser processing parameters according to the geometrical characteristics of a single laser track (i.e. cladding height, cladding width). Moreover, dilution of composite coating increases with the increasing of laser specific energy and the preheated temperature of substrate, while reduces with the increasing of powder density. The types of substrate also have an important effect on dilution of composite coating, as has a strong dependence on the thermophysical properties of substrate (i.e. melting point, resistivity and permeability).     

Microstructure and corrosion properties of thick WC composite coating formed by plasma cladding

The thick Ni-coated WC coatings, in a matrix of Nickel-based alloys, were prepared on AISI 1045 steel using plasma cladding equipment. A pre-placed layer of uniform mixture, with different weight fractions of Ni-coated WC powder and Nickel-based alloy powder, on the steel substrate was melted at the high temperature of the plasma jet. The coating composition, microstructure and microhardness were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and microhardness testing. The experimental results show that the metallurgical bond was formed between the coating and substrate. The XRD results show that the coatings contain γ-Ni, carbides (such as M₂₃C₆ and M₇C₃) and boride (such as Fe₂B, Fe₃B phases). SEM shows that all the coatings are crack-free with lower porosity (<1%). It is found that the microhardness and the electrochemical behavior of the coatings are depended on the content of Ni-coated WC powder. The corrosion mechanism for the coatings may be due to the microgalvance corrosion between the phases in the cladding coatings.     

金属陶瓷复合涂层的激光熔覆与无裂纹的实现

鉴于传统的激光熔覆金属陶瓷复合涂层技术主要存在2方面不足：其一,熔覆效率低,导致大面积熔覆时成本昂贵;其二,由于激光熔覆本身的特点,即快速加热与快速凝固,在激光熔覆过程中,热应力极易诱导熔覆层开裂。基于此,综述了国内外激光熔覆金属陶瓷复合涂层的研究进展,指出其存在的主要问题,并提出了激光感应复合快速熔覆的新方法,即感应预热基材的同时快速激光熔覆。该方法不仅可使熔覆效率大大提高而且获得了无裂纹的金属陶瓷复合涂层。     

Microstructure and wear behavior of γ/Al4C3/TiC/CaF2 composite coating on γ-TiAl intermetallic alloy prepared by Nd:YAG laser cladding

As a further step in obtaining high performance elevated temperature self-lubrication anti-wear composite coatings on TiAl alloy, a novel Ni-P electroless plating method was adopted to encapsulate the as-received CaF₂ in the preparation of precursor NiCr-Cr₃C₂-CaF₂ mixed powders with an aim to decrease its mass loss and increase its compatibility with the metal matrix during a Nd:YAG laser cladding. The microstructure of the coating was examined using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and the friction and wear behavior of the composite coatings sliding against the hardened 0.45% C steel ring was evaluated using a block-on-ring wear tester at room temperature. It was found that the coating had a unique microstructure consisting of primary dendrites TiC and block Al₄C₃ carbides reinforcement as well as fine isolated spherical CaF₂ solid lubrication particles uniformly dispersed in the NiCrAlTi (γ) matrix. The good friction-reducing and anti-wear abilities of the laser clad composite coating was suggested to the Ni-P electroless plating and the attendant reduction of mass loss of CaF₂ and the increasing of it's wettability with the NiCrAlTi (γ) matrix during the laser cladding process.     

Stress, absorptance and laser-induced damage threshold properties of 355-nm HR coatings

A number of 355-nm Al₂O₃/MgF₂ high-reflectance (HR) coatings were prepared by electron-beam evaporation. The influences of the number of coating layers and deposition temperature on the 355-nm Al₂O₃/MgF₂ HR coatings were investigated. The stress was measured by viewing the substrate deformation before and after coating deposition using an optical interferometer. The laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the samples was measured by a 355-nm Nd:YAG laser with a pulse width of 8 ns. Transmittance and reflectance of the samples were measured by a Lambda 900 spectrometer. It was found that absorptance was the main reason to result in a low LIDT of 355-nm Al₂O₃/MgF₂ HR coatings. The stress in Al₂O₃/MgF₂ HR coatings played an unimportant role in the LIDT, although MgF₂ is known to have high tensile stress.     

Tribological characterization of chromium nitride coating deposited by filtered cathodic vacuum arc

CrN coatings were prepared by filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technique. The influence of the deposition parameters (nitrogen partial pressure PN₂, substrate bias voltage V_s and preheating of the substrate) on the structural, mechanical and tribological properties of the FCVA CrN coatings was investigated. Further, the FCVA CrN coating was compared in dry reciprocating sliding with commercial multi-arc ion plating (MAIP) CrN coating as to friction and wear properties. Profilometer, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) were used to evaluate the wear scars and the wear mechanisms were discussed. The results showed that the structural, mechanical and tribological properties of the FCVA CrN coatings were significantly dependent on the deposition parameters. The FCVA CrN coating deposited with PN₂ of 0.1 Pa, V_s of −100 V and without preheating exhibited the optimal mechanical and tribological properties. The FCVA CrN coating exhibited much better anti-abrasive and anti-spalling properties than the MAIP CrN coating, which was resulted from significant reduction of macroparticles and pitting defects by the FCVA technique. The MAIP CrN coating suffered severe concentrated wear by a combination wear mechanisms of delamination, abrasive and oxidative wear when high normal load was applied, while for the FCVA CrN coating the wear mechanisms were ultra-mild abrasive and oxidative wear.     

Wear resistance of laser cladding and plasma spray welding layer on stainless steel surface

The effect of coatings, which are formed with laser cladding and plasma spray welding on 1Cr18Ni9Ti base metal, on wear resistance is studied, A 5-kW transverse flowing CO2 laser is used for cladding Co base alloy powder pre-placed on the substrate. Comparing with the plasma spray coatings, the spoiled rate of products with laser clad layers was lower and the rate of finished products was higher. Their microstructure is extremely fine. They have close texture and small size grain. Their dilution resulting from the compositions of the base metal and thermal effect on base metal are less. The hardness, toughness,and strength of the laser cladding layers are higher. Wear tests show that the laser layers have higher properties of anti-friction, anti-scour and high-temperature sliding strike. The wear resistance of laser clad layers are about one time higher than that of plasma spray welding layer.     

Comparative study of microstructural characteristics of electrospark and Nd:YAG laser epitaxially growing coatings

As low-heat input welding processes, electrospark deposition and pulsed Nd:YAG laser cladding can be commonly used to prepare epitaxially growing coatings. However, these two processes have quite different characteristics in the energy input, the amount of materials involved, and the temperature gradient, and hence might result in dissimilar microstructural characteristics. In this paper, a comparative study has been made between microstructural characteristics in epitaxial growth coatings prepared by electrospark deposition and pulsed Nd:YAG laser cladding. Some interesting results have been achieved. Firstly, epitaxial growth coatings can be commonly achieved by these two techniques. Secondly, microstructural morphologies of these two epitaxial growth coatings are obviously different, cellular columnar structure prevails in the electrospark coating while columnar dendritic structure occupies most of the laser coating thickness, more importantly, electrospark coating remains fully columnar in the whole layer whereas laser coating tends to change from columnar to equiaxed at the top of the layer. Thirdly, electrospark coating possesses finer and more homogeneous microstructure than laser coating.     

Influence of the bilayer thickness of nanostructured multilayer MoN/CrN coating on its microstructure,hardness, and elemental composition

Multilayer nanostructured coatings consisting of alternating MoN and CrN layers were obtained by vacuum cathode evaporation under various conditions of deposition. The transition from micron sizes of bilayers to the nanometer scale in the coatings under investigation leads to an increase in hardness from 15 to 35.5 GPa (with a layer thickness of about 35 nm). At the same time, when the number of bilayers in the coating decreases, the average Vickers hardness increases from 1267 HV_0.05 to 3307 HV_0.05. An increase in the value of the potential supplied to the substrate from–20 to–150 V leads to the formation of growth textures in coating layers with the [100] axis, and to an increase in the intensity of reflections with increasing bilayer thickness. Elemental analysis carried out with the help of Rutherford backscattering, secondary ion mass spectrometry and energy dispersion spectra showed a good separation of the MoN and CrN layers near the surface of the coatings.     

铁基合金激光熔覆层的高温磨损性能

 为提高40Cr钢表面耐磨性,采用预置激光熔覆法在40Cr基体表面制备Fe基涂层,利用HT-500摩擦磨损实验机测定干摩擦条件下,基体和熔覆层的摩擦因数随温度变化的规律。利用表面粗糙度轮廓仪测量磨痕的深度和宽度,SEM观察熔覆层以及磨痕的显微组织形貌,使用HV-1000型显微硬度仪检测基体和熔覆层结合部分的硬度。研究结果表明:熔覆层平均显微硬度值达到373.8HV(0.2);显著高于基体硬度198.4HV(0.2)。在干摩擦条件下,随着温度升高,磨损过程逐渐变平缓,平均摩擦因数降低,磨损率增加,耐磨性下降;在350~400 ℃之间,熔覆层磨损性能优于基体。     

Reactive plasma cladding of TiC/Fe cermet coating using asphalt as a carbonaceous precursor

A new process of preparing Ti-Fe-C composites powder for reactive plasma cladding, precursor carbonization-composition process, was developed. TiC/Fe cermet coatings were synthesized by reactive plasma cladding of the composite powder. XRD and SEM were employed to analyze the phase composition and microstructure of the composite powder and coating. The hardness and wear resistance of the coating was tested. Results show that: The compound powder prepared by precursor carbonization-composition process has very tight structure, which can avert the question of raw powder breaking-up in cladding process. The TiC/Fe cermet coating by reactive plasma cladding consists of alternate, laminated layers as following: the layers in which the round nanoscale TiC particles are dispersed within the α-Fe matrix and the layers of TiC accumulation. The TiC/Fe cermet coating by reactive plasma cladding shows superior hardness and wear resistance: The surface hardness of the TiC/Fe cermet coating is 68 ± 6 (HR30 N). In the same fretting conditions, the wear resistance of Ni60 coating is twelve times than that of the TiC/Fe cermet coating.     

Numerical simulation of temperature distribution and TiC growth kinetics for high power laser clad TiC/NiCrBSiC composite coatings

A three dimensional model was proposed to simulate high power laser clad TiC/NiCrBSiC composite coatings on Ti6Al4V alloys. The temperature distribution, temperature curves on different nodes, three dimensional shape and size of TiC melting region, molten pool and heat affected zone (HAZ) of the substrate were obtained. To have a clear physical insight into the phase transformation and microstructure evolution in the coatings during laser cladding process, a theoretical kinetic analysis was performed to elucidate the nucleation, growth velocity, and size of TiC particles on the basis of simulated temperature curves of the molten pool. A good quality TiC/NiCrBSiC composite coating with low dilution rate and excellent metallurgical bond was fabricated under optimal processing parameters using powder mixture of TiC and NiCrBSiC as clad material and cuboid of Ti6Al4V alloys as substrate. To validate the reliability of the proposed model, the theoretical results were compared with the microstructure of the coatings. It shows that these theoretical results are in excellent agreement with the experiment cases.     

Effect of Ni-to-Fe ratio on structure and properties of Ni-Fe-B-Si-Nb coatings fabricated by laser processing

Ni-Fe-B-Si-Nb coatings have been deposited on mild steel substrates using high power laser cladding process followed by laser remelting. The influence of Ni-to-Fe concentration ratio in (Ni_100−xFe_x)₆₂B₁₈Si₁₈Nb₂ (x = 55, 50, 45 and 40) powders on the phase composition and microstructure is analyzed by X-ray diffraction, scanning- and transmission-electron microscopies. The microhardness and corrosion resistance properties of the coatings are also measured. The results reveal that amorphous matrix layers are obtained for all coatings. The increase of the Ni-to-Fe ratio can promote the formation of γ(Fe-Ni) phase and decrease the formation of Fe₂B phase and α-Fe phase. The coating with 1:1 ratio of Ni-to-Fe exhibits the highest microhardness of 1200 HV_0.5 and superior corrosion resistance property due to its largest volume fraction of amorphous phase in the coating. Higher or lower than 1:1 ratio of Ni-to-Fe may result in lower amorphous forming ability. However, even that the coating with ratio of 3:2, shows a minimum of microhardness, it shows a better corrosion resistance than other two coatings.     

碳化钨对激光熔覆高熵合金的影响

为了获得高性能的涂层材料,采用激光熔覆的方法,在Q235钢基体上制备了FeSiCrCoMo高熵合金涂层,并研究了WC对高熵合金涂层的组织和性能的影响。通过金相、X射线衍射、扫描电镜、硬度计、磨损试验机分别研究了添加WC前后涂层的微观形貌、相结构、硬度及磨损性能。结果表明:高熵合金FeSiCrCoMo涂层组织为粗大枝状晶,主要由BCC相和金属间化合物构成,添加WC后,涂层中形成了致密细小的胞状晶,同时BCC相增多,金属间化合物明显减少;添加WC后涂层的硬度明显增强,平均硬度提升了23%,涂层表面平均硬度达到了687HV0.2;WC的添加使得涂层的摩擦系数减小,磨损率减小,耐磨性能提高。     

Microstructure and tribological properties of TiCu2Al intermetallic compound coating

TiCu₂Al ternary intermetallic compound coating has been in situ synthesized successfully on pure Ti substrate by laser cladding. Tribological properties of the prepared TiCu₂Al intermetallic compound coating were systematically evaluated. It was found that the friction coefficient and wear rate was closely related to the normal load and sliding speed, i.e., the friction coefficient of the prepared TiCu₂Al intermetallic compound coating decreased with increasing normal load and sliding speed. The wear rate of the TiCu₂Al intermetallic compound coating decreased rapidly with increasing sliding speed, while the wear rate first increased and then decreased at normal load from 5 to 15 N.