Crack Behavior of Ni60A Coating Prepared by Laser Cladding on a Tilted Substrate

Almost all of the research on cracks in laser cladding is based, at present, on a horizontal substrate, which cannot be directly applied to prepare high performance coatings, especially high hardness coatings, on tilted substrate. In this work, the influence of the substrate’s tilt angle on the crack behavior of high hardness Ni60A coating is studied, based on the laser intensity distribution and energy attenuation models on the tilted substrate. Results show that the cracking rate (the crack number in the unit’s cladding length) of the coating increases with the increasing substrate tilt angle, but the tilt angle has no significant influence on the crack mechanism. The different lap direction has a certain influence on the crack, and the coating prepared by downward lap cladding has a larger cracking rate due to the greater laser energy loss. Furthermore, with the increasing substrate tilt angle, the residual stress increases due to the decreased plastic flow, and the fracture strength decreases due to the decreased dilution rate, which results in the increase in the cracking rate of the Ni60A coating. This work will broaden the application of laser cladding technology on repairing complex parts such as gear and blades.