Effects of WC-Ni content on microstructure and wear resistance of laser cladding Ni-based alloys coating

Different WC-Ni contents of NiCrBSi/WC-Ni composite coatings were produced on stainless steel by laser cladding. The effect of WC-Ni doping on the microstructure and tribological properties of the conventional NiCrBSi coating were systematically investigated. It has been found that the microhardness and wear resistance of the Ni-based alloy coatings are greatly increased after adding the WC-Ni particles, due to the formation of hard WC phase and a partial dissolution of WC particles on the Ni matrix after laser cladding. The laser cladding NiCrBSi/WC-Ni composite coatings, involving only mild abrasive and adhesive wear when sliding against the AISI-52100 counterpart (under ball-on-disk and ring-on-block wear test conditions). Thus, it is concluded that the incorporation of WC phase is an effective and attainable way to improve the tribological properties of conventional Ni-based alloys coatings. (C) 2011 Published by Elsevier B.V.