Influence of the Laser Cladding Parameters on the Morphology, Wear and Corrosion Resistance of WC-Co/NiCrBSi Composite Coatings

To enhance the sliding wear and corrosion behavior of steels with low carbon content, cermet composite coatings are usually deposited on their surface by various deposition processes. Laser cladding, compared to other deposition techniques such as electroplating, arc welding, and thermal spraying, has numerous advantages to produce such protective coatings. The paper presents the optimization of laser cladding deposition speed versus energy density in order to obtain WC-Co/NiCrBSi coatings with Ni-Al addition free of defects and reduced porosity deposited on low carbon steel substrate. The microstructure and chemical composition were investigated by SEM combined with EDX analysis while XRD was performed in order to examinate the phases within the coatings. In order to investigate the cladding speed influence on the coatings, hardness measurements, POD (pin on disk) wear tests and corrosion tests in 3.5% NaCl solution were carried out. The results showed that an optimal cladding speed has a crucial impact on the microstructure, composition, and hardness. It was found out that optimizing the cladding deposition speed proved to be effective in enhancing the sliding wear resistance and corrosion behavior by controlling the iron content within the coatings.