THE EFFECT OF THERMAL FIELD ON THE DEPOSITION OF FE-TIC ON CARBON STEEL USING LASER CLADDING

In this paper, a numerical and experimental method is used to investigate the effect of thermal fields on the deposition of Fe-TiC using the laser cladding process. Since in laser cladding temperature distributions and consequent rapid cooling rates determine the microstructure and final physical properties of the deposited layers, a 3D time-dependent numerical model is used to simulate the cladding process parallel to experimental analysis. The numerical results are used to study the temperature distributions and their evolutions throughout the deposition process. The experimental and verified numerical outcomes are then employed to study the variations of the microstructures of the deposited material as well as correlation between the formed microstructures and temperature distributions across the deposition domain. The numerical and experimental investigations are conducted through the deposition of Fe-TiC on the substrate of AISI 1030 carbon steel using a 1.1 kW fiber laser. The experimental results confirm that by increasing the substrate temperature throughout the process the distribution of the TiC particles changes along with the deposited tracks and the TiC particles start forming clusters at the top of the clad.