A new theoretical model for high power laser clad TiC/NiCrBSiC composite coatings on Ti6Al4V alloys

A new three-dimensional model was proposed to simulate the high power laser clad TiC/NiCrBSiC composite coatings on Ti6Al4V alloys using commercial finite element analysis software. Powders of TiC, NiCrBSiC alloy and cuboid of Ti6Al4V alloys were taken as sample materials. The dilution rate, the melt pool, and the heat affected zone (HAZ) of the substrate under different incident laser power were obtained from the calculation and compared with the microstructure of the coatings. The simulated results show that a good quality laser clad TiC/NiCrBSiC composite coating with low dilution rate and excellent metallurgical bond can be prepared under the processing parameters as follows: scanning velocity 5 mm/s, laser beam diameter 4.5 mm and incident laser power 2500W. There exhibits an excellent agreement between the simulated results and experimental data. It indicates that the new model is helpful to optimize the processing parameters to form a good quality coating. (c) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.