Development and characterization of laser surface cladding (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni–30Cu alloy composite coating on copper

doi:10.1016/j.optlastec.2011.12.031

Optics & Laser Technology

Volume 44, Issue 5, July 2012, Pages 1351-1358

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.optlastec.2011.12.031 Get rights and content

Abstract

To improve the wear resistance of copper components, laser surface cladding (LSC) was applied to deposit (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni–30Cu alloy composite coating on copper using a cladding interlayer of Ni–30Cu alloy by Nd:YAG laser. The microstructure and phases of the composite coating were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray energy dispersive microanalysis (EDX). Microhardness tester and pin-on-disc wear tester were employed to evaluate the hardness and dry-sliding wear resistance. The results show that crack-free composite coating with metallurgical bonding to the copper substrate is obtained. Phases identified in the (Ti,W)C-reinforced Ni–30Cu alloy composite layer are composed of TiWC₂ reinforcements and (Ni,Cu) solid solution. TiWC₂ reinforcements are distributed uniformly in the (Ni,Cu) solid solution matrix with dendritic morphology in the upper region and with particles in the mid-lower region. The microhardness and wear properties of the composite coating are improved significantly in comparison to the as-received copper substrate due to the addition of 50 wt% (Ti,W)C multicarbides.

Highlights

► (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni-based alloy composite coating was successfully fabricated on copper by cladding an interlayer. ► Average hardness value about 811.8HV_0.1 of the MMC layer was obtained, almost 9 times that of the copper substrate. ► The relative wear resistance of the MMC coating was about 20 times than that of the copper.

Introduction

Copper and its alloys are widely used in electrical apparatus, machinery, aerospace and metallurgical equipment, due to their excellent electric and thermal conductivities as well as good workability. However, a major difficulty in the use of copper components is its poor wear resistance and oxidation resistance in severe conditions such as crystallizer in continuous casting of steel [1], [2]. The classical solution to improve the wear resistance of crystallizer is to use a protective coating so as to increase the hardness while still retaining a high thermal conductivity and reducing the consumption on resource and energy. In this regards, numerous surface modification techniques including thermal spraying [3], electroplating [4], magnetron sputtering [5], casting infiltration [6] and laser surface cladding [2], [7] are attractive techniques to improve copper components' durability. Laser surface cladding (LSC) enables the production of surface coatings having properties that cannot be achieved by other means and at the same time are signalized by excellent bonding to the substrate and by minimal effect on the bulk properties [8]. Such surface treatment is an effective method to improve the wear resistance, in which Ni-based and Co-based alloys coatings have been reported [2], [8], [9].

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) are desirable with respect to high hardness and outstanding wear resistance due to the synergetic effect caused by the combination of hard reinforcements and ductile metal matrix. However, it is expensive, time-consuming and may even strategically unrealistic to produce bulk MMCs. Thus, fabricating MMC coatings using surfacing technology comes as an alternative and more economic way to improve the wear resistance of components [10]. LSC is a unique process producing thick MMC coatings with metallurgical bonding to the substrate that has been found as an increasing application in the field of surface engineering [11], [12]. While owing to the high reflectivity to infrared wavelength, poor wettability with many other materials, laser treatment of copper presents a certain degree of difficulty [13], and studies on LSC of MMC coatings on copper and copper alloys are still much less common than studies on other engineering alloys [14], [15], [16]. LSC with preplaced powder bed and with the introduction of an interlayer is a feasible method to overcome the absorption and wettability problem.

In recent years, literatures on LSC show an increased interest in depositing MMC coatings containing various volume fractions of ceramic particles. Among various ceramic particles, (Ti,W)C is expected to be one of the best reinforcements for MMCs due to its high hardness, outstanding tribological properties and good compatibility with metal matrix. The (Ti,W)C is a mixed cubic carbide, which may be more appropriate as reinforcement in Ni-based alloy because its density (9.1 g/cm³) is close to that of Ni alloy (8.9 g/cm³). Thus, it is attractive to fabricate (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni-based MMCs. Moreover, some alternative applications for (Ti,W)C carbides in combination with metal binders have been investigated [17]. Furthermore, it has been reported that carbides played an important role of laser-induced during LSC, which changed the laser and metal powders interactions [18].

However, reports on LSC of MMC coatings on copper substrate for improving the wear resistance are absent in the literature. It has been reported that Ni-based alloy on copper substrate by LSC was exhibited good wettability at interface [9], [13]. Therefore, fabricating (Ti,W)C carbides reinforced Ni-based MMC coating on copper is alternative. In the present work, the (Ti,W)C carbides and a Ni–30Cu alloy are employed as reinforcements and metal matrix, respectively, to produce MMC coating on copper by pulsed Nd:YAG laser cladding. Systematic studies on LSC of (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni-based alloy coating are carried out to characterize the microstructure, phase constituents and wear resistance.

Section snippets

Experimental procedure

The substrate of test coupon (50 mm×50 mm×10 mm) used for LSC was a copper alloy cut from continuous casting mould, with a composition of Cu–0.9Cr–0.26Zr (wt%). The copper coupons were surface machined and sanded to remove surface oxide before laser cladding. Ni–30Cu alloy powder (Ni–29.0Cu–0.6%Si–2.5Fe, wt%) with the particle size distribution in the range of 45–100 μm (Fig. 1a) was used as metal matrix. As mentioned in the introduction, (Ti,W)C multicarbides of a solid solution composed of WC and

Microstructure characterization

The top view of the sample after LSC is given in Fig. 2(a). It reveals that the LSC surface of the sample is relatively smooth and free of crack. Fig. 2(b) displays the cross-sectional SEM morphology of the MMC coating. It is shown that the coating consists of two layers, i.e. the interlayer with a thickness about 150 μm and the MMC layer, which is more than 800 μm thick above the interlayer. The interlayer is defect-free and has a high density. The MMC coating is also crack-free, while some

Conclusions

(Ti,W)C reinforced Ni–30Cu alloy composite coating was successfully fabricated by laser surface cladding (LSC) on copper substrate using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser. The (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni-based coating and copper substrate were bonded by cladding a Ni–30Cu alloy interlayer. The composite coating of a good quality has been gotten.

The coating consisted of two layers: MMC layer and interlayer. The MMC layer presents a microstructure essentially consisting of reinforcement particles dispersed in

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by Foundation of Shanghai University of Engineering Science, China (Grant nos. A-0501-11-008 and A-0501-11-009), Aid Project of Youth Teacher Training in Colleges and Universities of Shanghai, China (Grant nos. gjd11015 and gjd11021), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant nos. 50875160, and 51101126) and the Shanghai Leading Academic Discipline Project, China (Grant no. J51402).

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Development and characterization of laser surface cladding (Ti,W)C reinforced Ni–30Cu alloy composite coating on copper

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

Section snippets

Experimental procedure

Microstructure characterization

Conclusions

Acknowledgement

Surface and Coatings Technology

Journal of Alloys and Compounds

International Journal of Solids and Structures

Surface and Coatings Technology

Journal of Materials Processing Technology

Materials Science and Engineering A

Optics and Lasers in Engineering

Surface and Coatings Technology

Applied Surface Science

International Journal of Refractory Metals and Hard Materials

Surface and Coatings Technology

Applied Surface Science

Materials Science and Engineering A