In this study, the Fe-based composite alloy powders were obtained by mechanically (ball-milling) mixing different amounts of 25%NiCr-75%Cr3C2 powders with Fe55 wear-resistant alloy powders. And then, using the prepared composite alloy powders, Fe-based composite coa-tings with different Cr3C2 contents were subsequently fabricated on Q235 steel substrates via laser direct deposition. The microstructure and properties of the deposited coatings were analyzed using many experimental means such as OM, SEM, XRD, microhardness test, friction and wear test, high temperature oxidation test and electrochemical workstation, and so on. The results showed that, the composite coatings containing Cr3C2 are mainly composed of α-Fe, γ-Fe, Cr7C3, (Cr, Fe)7C3, Cr23C6, CrFeB and Cr3C2, etc. The coating with 30% Cr3C2 exhibits ty-pical radial structures which constitute of long rod-shaped and polygon block (Cr, Fe)7C3 radiating from the center of Cr3C2 particles to the perip-hery, and the chronological formation sequence of the three carbides in the radial structure is Cr3C2→(Cr, Fe)7C3→Cr23C6. Moreover, the addition of Cr3C2 can result in the increase of the amount of eutectic structure and the change in morphology, as the coatings with no/with 30% Cr3C2 contains about 40.2%/50.6% eutectic structure, and the eutectic structure of the coating with 9% Cr3C2 is obviously refined, with a remarkably smaller lamellar spacing. Compared with Fe55 coating, all the composite coatings (with 9%, 15% and 30% Cr3C2) got significantly improved in comprehensive mechanical properties such as hardness, wear resistance, high temperature oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance, and the coating with 15% Cr3C2 has the best integrative performance. The strengthening method for directly deposited Fe55 alloy coatings by adding Cr3C2 proposed in this work is expected to provide new insights for the development of laser-additive manufacturing high-hardness, wear resistant and corrosion resistant working layer of friction parts. © 2021, Materials Review Magazine. All right reserved.