Measurement of temperature distributions during laser cladding process

Tungsten-rhenium and platinum-rhodium high-temperature thermocouples have been utilized to measure the thermal cycle and the temperature distributions for laser cladding process. Within optimized operation window, a wide range of processing parameters, and various clad materials have been used in laser cladding experiments. The clad-zone temperatures under various processing conditions fall between 1650 and 1800 degrees C. These results are in good agreement with those obtained by optical pyrometer. (C) 2000 Laser Institute of America.