A multiphase modeling for investigating temperature history, flow field and solidification microstructure evolution of FeCoNiCrTi coating by laser cladding

In this work, a multiphase numerical model was established to investigate the non-isothermal flow and microstructure evolution during laser cladding. The model considered the beampowder interaction, temperature dependent material properties, the effect of buoyancy and surface tension on convection. The accuracy of the model was verified comparing the simulated coating geometric morphology with the experimental results. Simulation indicated that the temperature and flow of the molten pool were interactive and mutually causal. On the one hand, the temperature field affected the tension gradient and the liquid flow direction. On the other hand, the velocity field significantly affected the heat transfer in the molten pool. Specifically, the maximum fluid velocity was 9.58 mm/s and the Peclet number (PeT) value was less than 5 at the initial stage, indicating that conduction dominated in heat transfer. Furthermore, the PeT value was greater than 200 when the maximum velocity reached 344 mm/s. The heat transfer in the molten pool was mainly thermal convection. In addition, the distribution diagram of solidification parameters (G and R) was calculated to quantitatively establish the internal correlation between solidification parameters and microstructure combing with experimental observation, and revealed the columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET). Eventually, the microhardness results showed that HEA coating could improve the Ti6Al4V surface microhardness. Simultaneously, the CET behavior significantly affected the microhardness of the coating.