Laser cladding of in-situ TiB2-TiC particles reinforced Fe-based coatings

In-situ TiB2-TiC particles reinforced Fe-based coatings were produced on carbon steel substrate by laser melting of mixture of B4C, TiO2, graphite and Fe-based self-melting alloy powders. The phase structure and microstructure was investigated with XRD and SEM. Meanwhile, the microhardness and wear properties of the coatings were tested with the micro-vickers and block-on-ring wear testing machine. The results showed that TiB2 and TiC ceramic particles were synthesized from the reaction of B4C+TiO2+C during laser cladding process, and the TiB2 and TiC particles were uniformly distributed in the coating. The amount of TiC decreased with the increase of laser power density. The microhardness and wear resistance of coatings were higher than those of 45 steel substrate.