Microstructure and properties of WC reinforced Ni-based composite coatings with Y₂O₃ addition on titanium alloy by laser cladding

ABSTRACT

In this study, WC reinforced Ni-based composite coatings with Y₂O₃ addition were deposited on Ti-6Al-4V titanium substrate by laser cladding. The phases, microstructure, microhardness and wear resistance of the composite coatings were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, microhardness tester and wear tester. The results showed that good metallurgical bonding was achieved between the composite coatings and substrate. The phases mainly were γ-Ni, TiC, TiB₂, Ni₃B, M₂₃C₆ and WC. Most of the WC was dissolved in small pieces of WC during the laser cladding process. The microhardness of the composite coatings was about 3 times that of the titanium substrate and the wear resistance of the composite coatings had a significant increase.

KEYWORDS:

• Laser cladding
• microstructure
• Ni-based composite coatings
• WC
• Y₂O₃
• titanium alloy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Kaiming Wang http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4211-8483

Yuxiang Hong http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5728-4628

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the National Key Research and Development Program of China [No. 2017YFB1103300], National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 51675303 and 51605251]; and Tribology Science Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Tribology [No. SKLT2018B05].