Morphologies, microstructures and properties of TiC particle reinforced Inconel 625 coatings obtained by laser cladding with wire

Laser cladding has been widely applied in surface modification and repairing. In this study, laser cladding was employed to fabricate Inconel 625 composite coatings reinforced by TiC particles using a 4000W fiber laser. The morphologies of bead samples, particle distributions, mechanisms of microstructure evolution, mechanical property and corrosion performance of the individual molten pool which was produced in laser cladding composites were investigated. The results showed that homogeneous distributed TiC particles, along with refined microstructures were obtained in TiC reinforced Inconel 625 composite coatings under appropriate cladding process parameters. During laser cladding, almost no transformation of Fe or Ni was occurred around the TiC particle but Laves phases were precipitated at the boundary. Compared with the pure Inconel 625 coatings, significantly improvement of microhardness and tensile strength were observed in TiC reinforced Inconel 625 coatings. The TiC reinforced Inconel 625 coatings also exhibited good corrosion resistance, proving a further surface improvement of ASIS 316L stainless steel substrate.