Preparation of TA15 powder reinforced 45CrNiMoY alloy steel with high mechanical property by pre-laid laser cladding technology

Based on the principle of in-situ precipitation strengthening, TA15 powder (Ti-6.5Al-1Mo-1V-1.5Zr) was used as an additive to improve the mechanical properties of 45CrNiMoY alloy steel by pre-laid laser cladding (PLLC) technology. Effects of the content of TA15 powders (01.5 wt%) on the microstructure, precipitation mechanism and mechanical property of PLLC 45CrNiMoY alloy steel samples were investigated. Results indicate that TA15 alloy has a significant effect on the microstructure of 45CrNiMoY alloy steel through metallurgical reaction in the laser molten pool. With the increase of TA15 powder content, the granular bainite (GB) microstructure were remarkably refined, the mount of the acicular ferrite (AF) was increased, and in-situ precipitates such as Ti-Y2O3-Zr (TYZ) composite oxide, TiC and ZrC carbide were produced. The 45CrNiMoY alloy steel sample with 1.0 wt% TA15 alloy addition has the best combination of tensile strength (1158 +/- 9.7 MPa) and elongation (9.8 +/- 0.4%), its microhardness was improved by 25.6% compared with the sample without TA15 powder. The TYZ composite oxides did not only serve as the AF nucleation sites but also spheroidize the detrimental manganese sulfide phase leading to a good elongation of the 45CrNiMoY alloy steel, the TiC and ZrC carbides played a key role in the improvement of the microhardness and tensile strength. The proper addition of TA15 powder can effectively improve the microstructure and mechanical properties of the PLLC 45CrNiMoY alloy steel.