Laser Cladding of WC onto Inconel 718 Super Alloy: Parametric Study and Physical Properties
Y. Javid, M. Ghoreishi and M.J. Torkamany
Laser cladding of WC on Inconel 718 super alloy is studied in this research. Pre-placed WC powder is clad on Inconel 718 substrate using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser with various process parameters. Effects of pulsed laser and process parameters on the clad quality are investigated. In this study, laser average power, pulse width, focal distance, scanning speed and pre-placement factors are input parameters, while clad dilution, height, depth, porosity and number of cracks are outputs. Experimental results reveal that energy density of the laser beam is the most important factor, affecting the results of laser cladding process. It is observed that hard phases are formed on the Inconel 718 surface in situ by laser beam radiation and small changes are made in the substrate properties in a limited zone. Also, in surface laser cladding, 50% overlap between adjacent passes was found to have the best results. Results reveal that the optimum setting concluded in this study can be used efficiently in laser cladding process. Comparison of results obtained in this research with other conventional cladding methods shows that laser cladding can be used efficiently instead of other methods of cladding.
Keywords: Nd:YAG laser, Inconel 718, tungsten carbide (WC), laser cladding, super alloy, parametric study, pre-placed powder, dilution, porosity, thermal energy