Laser cladding in-situ micro and sub-micro/nano Ti-V carbides reinforced Fe-based layers by optimizing initial alloy powders size

Abstract In-situ formed micro and sub-micro/nano TiC-VC carbides reinforced Fe-based laser cladding layers were successfully obtained by optimizing the particle size of iron, ferrotitanium-ferrovanadium and graphite powders. Microstructure, hardness and corrosion resistance of the cladding layers were comparatively investigated. The results indicated that optimizing the particle size of the cladding alloy powders, the average particle size of the carbides decreased significantly, and the distribution range of sizes became more narrower. Moreover, the micro scale complex carbides of TiC and C0.88V transformed into sub-micro/nano scale single phase carbides TiVC2. The hardness of the cladding layer increased slightly, however, the corrosion resistance increased significantly, due to the formation of a passive film and carbide refinement.