Cladding of Stellite-6/WC Composites Coatings by Laser Metal Deposition

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the microstructure and hardness of multi-layered Stellite-6/WC metal-matrix composites coatings on metallic substrates cladded by laser metal deposition (LMD) for improvement of wear and corrosion resistances. As coating materials, Stellite-6 and WC-12wt.%Co powders were selected. Powder mixtures having various mixing-ratios of Stellite-6 and WC-12wt.%Co were provided vertically on S45C substrates by controlling powder feeding rates of the two powder feeders, individually. Stellite-6/WC composites which consist of three layers with different compositions were cladded on the S45C substrates by laser melting. Cross-sectional microstructure observation was carried out by using an optical microscope (OM). Vickers microhardness tests were conducted to evaluate hardness of the cladding layers and substrates. The experimental results demonstrate that hard multi-layered Stellite-6/WC metal-matrix composites coatings were successfully cladded on the S45C substrates. Property gradients in the Stellite-6/WC composites could be made due to the position-dependent chemical composition and microstructure made by controlling powder feeding rates of an LMD system.