The Effects of Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Tribaloy 400 Coatings Deposited by Laser Cladding

The effects of heat treatment on the microstructure, microhardness, nanohardness and wear resistance of Tribaloy 400 coatings prepared by laser cladding on 304 stainless steel were studied in this paper. The results show that the microstructures of Tribaloy 400 laser cladding layer are cobalt matrix dendrites and eutectic structure. After the heat treatment at 1250 °C for 1 h, the eutectic structure disappears and the strip-like Laves phase is formed on the Co matrix. Meanwhile, the hardness is obviously improved. After the heat treatment at 1250 °C for 1 h and then 900 °C for 4 h, a small amount of ε-Co appears, the strip-like Laves phases become coarser and blunter, and some of the strip structures combine together to form blocky structures, and the hardness is decreased. The wear resistance of the samples at 600 °C is better than that at RT since the hardness of the Laves phase increases with the rise in temperature.