The effects of laser cladding process parameters on characteristics such as track height and width have now been well investigated, experimentally, analytically and numerically. Less predictable, due to complexity of the non-linear physical effects during laser cladding, but still highly significant for practical application, are characteristics such as the microstructure and mechanical properties of the final clads or parts produced from them.
This paper presents an investigation into the laser cladding of M2 steel using a coaxial nozzle. Single scan tracks were produced on M2 substrates at a number of specific energies and line masses and also modelled using a coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Finite Elements (FE) model of the process. Characteristic of the clad track are predicted using the model with and without the influence of melt pool flow accounted for and the predictions compared with the experiment outcomes, analyzed via techniques such as Optical microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The results highlight the many parameters that affect the laser cladding process.