Synthesis of Y2O3 particle enhanced Ni/TiC composite on TC4 Ti alloy by laser cladding
(1. School of Materials Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China;
2. Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Magnesium Materials and Applications,
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)
2. Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Magnesium Materials and Applications,
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)
Abstract: A Y2O3 particle enhanced Ni/TiC composite coating was fabricated in-situ on a TC4 Ti alloy by laser surface cladding. The phase component, microstructure, composition distribution and properties of the composite layer were investigated. The composite layer has graded microstructures and compositions, due to the fast melting followed by rapid solidification and cooling during laser cladding. The TiC powders are completely dissolved into the melted layer during melting and segregated as fine dendrites when solidified. The size of TiC dendrites decreases with increasing depth. Y2O3 fine particles distribute in the whole clad layer. The Y2O3 particle enhanced Ni/TiC composite layer has a quite uniform hardness along depth with a maximum value of HV1380, which is 4 times higher than the initial hardness. The wear resistance of the Ti alloy is significantly improved after laser cladding due to the high hardness of the composite coating.
Key words: TC4 Ti alloy; Ni/TiC composite; Y2O3; laser cladding; hardness; surface modification