High Power Laser Cladding – Comparison to conventional PTA cladding – microstructural morphology and wear resistance of a NiCrSiFeB alloy

New developments in the field of laser desposition ensure the"easy" availability of higher laser powers laser cladding processes, as these offer significant advantages over conventional cladding processes in terms of production speed and controllability. This study describes the evaluation of a substitution of a conventional PTA process by a high-power laser process. Using the example of a NiCrSiFeB (trade name Colmonoy C56), the evaluation of the different energy input, a different application strategy (weaving to linear) and the changed cooling conditions on the microstructure morphology and the wear resistance under different wear attack (adhesion, three body abrasion) is presented. It is known from the literature that the microstructure morphology, in particular the size, number and distribution of the hard phases, has a significant influence on the wear protection potential of alloys. For the characterization of the wear resistance two standardized test methods (ASTM G65 and ASTM G75) and one high load adhesion test method roughly similar to the ASTM G75 will be used. It will be shown that the change in depositions strategy and energy input has a significant influence on the microstructural morphology and in some case on the wear resistance of the presented alloy.