Effect of thermal fatigue on the wear resistance of graphite cast iron with bionic units processed by laser cladding WC

Abstract Thermal fatigue and wear exist simultaneously during the service life of brake discs. Previous researchers only studied thermal fatigue resistance or abrasion resistance of compact graphite cast iron (CGI), rather than combining them together. In this paper, wear resistance after thermal fatigue of CGI was investigated basing on the principle of bionics, which was close to actual service condition of the brake discs. In the meanwhile, the effect of thermal fatigue on wear resistance was also discussed. Non-smooth bionic units were fabricated by laser cladding WC powder with different proportions (50 wt.%, 60 wt.%, 70 wt.%). Microstructure and microhardness of the units were investigated, and wear mass losses of the samples were also compared. The results indicate that thermal fatigue has a negative effect on the wear resistance. After the same thermal fatigue cycles times, the wear resistance of laser cladding WC samples is superior to that of laser remelting ones and their wear resistance enhances with the increase of WC content.