Effects of WC Particle Types on the Microstructures and Properties of WC-Reinforced Ni60 Composite Coatings Produced by Laser Cladding

Abstract

WC-reinforced Ni60 composite coatings with different types of WC particles were prepared on 304 stainless steel surface by laser cladding. The influences of spherical WC, shaped WC, and flocculent WC on the microstructures and properties of composite coatings were investigated. The results showed that three types of WC particles distribute differently in the cladding coatings, with spherical WC particles stacking at the bottom, shaped WC aggregating at middle and lower parts, with flocculent WC particles dispersing homogeneously. The hardnesses, wear resistances, corrosion resistances, and thermal shock resistances of the coatings are significantly improved compared with the stainless steel substrate, regardless of the type of WC that is added, and especially with regard to the microhardness of the cladding coating; the addition of spherical or shaped WC particles can be up to 2000 HV0.05 in some areas. Flocculent WC, shaped WC, and spherical WC demonstrate large to small improvements in that order. From the results mentioned above, the addition of flocculent WC can produce a cladding coating with a uniform distribution of WC that is of higher quality compared with those from spherical WC and shaped WC.

Thermomechanical Wear Testing of Metal Matrix Composite Cladding for Potential Application in Hot Rolling Mills

“…Several methods for experimental testing of tribology and wear behavior of potential roll and cladding materials have been used by researchers. The majority of these methods can be roughly classified as 1) pin‐on‐disc or ball‐on‐disc tests, 2) ring‐on‐bock tests with different setups, 3) block‐on‐disc tests with or without addition of abrasive particles, and 4) disc‐on‐disc or roll‐on‐roll tests with two or even three discs or rolls, respectively. Among those test methods, in particular, the roll‐on‐roll tests are suitable to simulate the combined effects of relative motion (slip effects) and high contact pressure between the rolls of the rolling mill and the metal strip.…”

“…MMC claddings typically consist of crushed or spherical tungsten carbide particles embedded into an iron‐, cobalt‐, or nickel‐based matrix. The microstructure and the wear behavior of these claddings are generally well studied at room temperature, but only a few investigations focus on their particular wear behavior at elevated temperatures . At room temperature, abrasive wear tends to decrease with increasing hardness of the MMC cladding, i.e., with increasing content or size of the hard particles inside the matrix, respectively.…”

Effect of the Average Energy on WC Grain Growth of WC-10Co-4Cr Composite by Laser Cladding

“…With the purpose of establishing a relationship among three different processing parameters, that is, laser power, scanning speed and laser spot diameter, the concept of Metals 2019, 9,1245; doi:10.3390/met9121245 www.mdpi.com/journal/metals Metals 2019, 9,1245 2 of 12 average energy (E a ) [10], also called average energy per unit area [8,10,11], specific energy [12][13][14][15][16], effective energy [13,17,18] and/or energy density [10,[19][20][21][22], is frequently used in the literature; thereby, E a is basically set by adjusting the corresponding parameters. WC-Co alloys have been commonly deposited utilizing laser cladding [7,8,10,11,[23][24][25]. For example, it has been observed that laser power has a predominant effect on the LC WC-12Co alloy coating characteristics.…”

The Effect of Laser Beam Processing on the Properties of WC-Co Coatings Deposited on Steel

“…The use of ceramic tool materials is limited as compared with cemented carbides, although it tends to grow. It has been estimated that around 5% of cutting tool inserts are made of ceramics based on: Currently, WC-based coatings can be produced with various technologies, such as: plasma spraying [3,4], HVOF spraying [5,6], electro-spark deposited (ESD) processing [7,8], laser cladding [9,10], laser alloying [11,12], physical vapor deposition [13], chemical vapor deposition [14] and liquid state sintering in vacuum [15], which mainly fulfill protective and antiwear functions.…”