Formation and wear property of broad-beam laser clad Fe-based coatings

Broad-beam laser cladding (BLC) is an efficient method for coating preparation with wide application. However, the fabrication of advanced alloys by BLC has been rarely reported. The coating quality, microstructure and wear performance of the FeBSiNb coatings prepared by BLC were investigated in this paper. The coating quality and wear property of the Fe-based coatings were effectively improved by optimizing process parameters. Under the influence of rapid solidification by BLC, the FeBSiNb coatings exhibited a composite phase structure consisting of a major component of intragranular α-Fe phase and intergranular Fe2B phase. The in-situ generation of Nb-B particles dispersed all over the coatings, not only enhancing the mechanical property, but significantly increasing the wear resistance. The different cracking characteristics and heterogeneous segregation strengthening mechanism of FeBSiNb coatings have also been discussed for elucidating the progressive coating quality and excellent wear resistance, respectively. •The coating quality of broad-beam laser clad Fe-based coatings were improved.•The fracture mechanisms of BLC-ed Fe-based coatings were analyzed.•The Fe-based coatings exhibits high micro-hardness and excellent wear resistance.•The in-situ heterogeneous segregation-strengthening was achieved by BLC.