Improvement of the tribological properties of pure Ti by laser cladding intermetallic compound composite coating

Intermetallic compound composite coating was fabricated on pure Ti substrate by laser cladding. The microstructure and tribological properties of the prepared intermetallic compound coating sliding against AISI-52100 steel ball at different normal loads were evaluated. The morphologies of the worn surfaces were analysed by means of scanning electron microscopy and three-dimensional non-contact surface mapping. It is shown that the microhardness and wear resistance of the pure Ti substrate are greatly increased after laser cladding intermetallic compound coating, due to the formation of hard phases in the composite coating. The intermetallic compound composite coating, involving only mild abrasive wear and adhesive wear under lower normal load, and abrasive, adhesive and microfracture under higher normal load, when sliding against the AISI-52100 counterpart.