Cemented carbide reinforced nickel-based alloy coating by laser cladding and the wear characteristics

Composite coatings composed of metal matrix and ceramic particles have received particular attention in surface engineering. In this paper nickel base alloy powder and WC-Co cemented carbide particles have been chosen to manufacture composite coatings by use of kW CO2 laser. Laser processing parameters including output power and scanning speed have been optimized. X-ray diffractor, optical and electron microscopes and energy dispersion spectra have been applied to investigate the phase constituents and microstructures of the coating. Block-on-ring dry sliding wear test and rubber wheel slurry erosive abrasion wear test have been conducted to study the wear properties of the composite coating as well as the reinforcing effect of WC-Co particles. A 50–100 mm wide ring appeared along the particle side of the particle-matrix boundary, showing superior wear and corrosion resistance, higher than even the original central part of the WC-Co particle. The mechanism of its formation has been probed.