Fiber laser cladding of nickel-based alloy on cast iron

Gray cast iron is a ferrous alloy characterized by a carbon-rich phase in form of lamellar graphite in an iron matrix while ductile cast iron presents a carbon-rich phase in form of spheroidal graphite. Graphite presents a higher laser beam absorption than iron matrix and its morphology has also a strong influence on thermal conductivity of the material. The laser cladding process of cast iron is complicated by its heterogeneous microstructure which generates non-homogeneous thermal fields. In this research work, a comparison between different types of cast iron substrates (with different graphite morphology) has been carried out to analyze its impact on the process results. A fiber laser was used to generate a NiCrBSi coating over flat substrates of gray cast iron (EN-GJL-250) and nodular cast iron (EN-GJS-400-15). The relationship between processing parameters (laser irradiance and scanning speed) and geometry of a single laser track was examined. Moreover, microstructure and composition were studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The hardness and elastic modulus were analyzed by means of micro- and nanoindentation. A hardfacing coating was generated by fiber laser cladding. Suitable processing parameters to generate the Ni-based alloy coating were determined. For the same processing parameters, gray cast iron samples present higher dilution than cast iron samples. The elastic modulus is similar for the coating and the substrate, while the Ni-based coating obtained presents a significantly superior hardness than cast iron.