Hot wire laser cladding for repairing martensite precipitation hardening stainless steel Available to Purchase

Martensite precipitation hardening stainless steel (M-PHSS) is widely used as load-bearing parts because of its excellent overall properties. It is economical and flexible to repair the failure parts instead of changing new ones. However, it is difficult of keep the properties of repaired layer as good as the substrate. Multi-pass layers were cladded on the surface of FV520B by hot wire laser cladding. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize processing parameters and predict formation quality of multi-pass cladding. Microstructure of the as-cladded layer was non-uniform and divided into quenched and tempered region. For the as-cladded layer, tensile strength was almost equivalent to that of the substrate, while ductility and impact toughness deteriorated much. With using laser scanning layer by layer, microstructure of the clad layers was tempered to fine martensite uniformly. The ductility and toughness of clad layer were improved to be equivalent to those of the substrate, while the tensile strength was a little lower than that of the substrate. By adding TiC nanoparticles as well as laser scanning, the precipitation strengthening effect was improved and the structure was refined in the clad layer. As a result, the strength, ductility and toughness were all improved further. Finally, high quality clad layers were obtained with equivalent or even superior mechanical properties to the substrate, offering a valuable technique to repair M-PHSS.