The use of zirconium is widespread in nuclear, chemical and biomedical industries considering its low thermal neutron cross-section, high corrosion resistance and good biocompatibility [1-3]. The present work studies the application of laser cladding using a powder spray laser deposition system. Commercially pure zirconium is deposited on a zirconium alloy substrate without the use of an enclosed atmosphere to limit oxygen and nitrogen contamination. The use of different powder nozzle designs and argon shielding gas flow rates are examined as the only mechanism for protecting the molten zirconium from the atmospheric contamination, in order to evaluate the feasibility of in-situ cladding and more convenient cladding systems. The powder nozzle geometry and gas flow rates are compared in terms of the cladding chemistry, microstructures, and microhardness. It is shown that the use of a powder delivery nozzle which only utilizes one stream of argon within the powder carrier gas is not sufficient to prevent atmospheric contamination. The addition of an auxiliary argon stream provides far greater protection to both the clad and substrate, which suggests it is possible to achieve acceptable zirconium claddings without the use of an enclosed shielded environment.

1.
Lustman
,
B.
&
F.
Kerze
. (
1955
) The metallurgy of zirconium. Vol.
4
. 1955:
McGraw-Hill Book Company
.
2.
Balla
,
V.K.
,
W.
Xue
,
S.
Bose
, &
A.
Bandyopadhyay
. (
2009
)
Laser-assisted Zr/ZrO 2 coating on Ti for load-bearing implants
.
Acta biomaterialia
, 2009.
5
(
7
): p.
2800
2809
.
3.
AWS
. (
2012
)
American Welding Society G2.5/G2.5M:2012 Guide for the Fusion Welding of Zirconium and Zirconium Alloys
.
4.
Toyserkani
,
E.
,
A.
Khajepour
, &
S.F.
Corbin
. (
2010
) Laser cladding. 2010:
CRC press
.
5.
Abriata
,
J.
,
J.
Garces
, &
R.
Versaci
. (
1986
)
The O− Zr (Oxygen-Zirconium) system
.
Bulletin of Alloy Phase Diagrams
, 1986.
7
(
2
): p.
116
124
.
6.
Gribaudo
,
L.
,
D.
Arias
, &
J.
Abriata
. (
1994
)
The N-Zr (Nitrogen-Zirconium) System
.
Journal of Phase Equilibria
, 1994.
15
(
4
): p.
441
449
.
This content is only available via PDF.
You do not currently have access to this content.