Methodology for prediction of laser power and penetration depth in surface cladding/alloying

A simulation methodology has been developed and experimentally validated, including a simplified three-dimensional finite-element heat transfer model of the laser surface cladding/alloying process. Cladding/alloying of a nickel-based superalloy powder on grey cast iron substrate has been studied. By introducing and estimating a power scaling factor, it has been shown that the model is capable for prediction of the penetration depth into the substrate, heat-affected zone size and dilution ratio at various laser powers, based on a single laser cladding/alloying experiment to deliver the model input and data for comparison.