Laser Cladding of Cold-Work Tool Steel by Pulse Shaping

Repair welding of cold-work tool steels in cold is very risky and almost impossible by conventional processes. The application of pulse shaping in laser cladding with wire to avoid the solidification problems in relevant steel is demonstrated. The results show that sound remelting and/or cladding can be achieved by the right selection of laser parameters and pulse shape, i.e. long pulse duration, moderate pulse peak powers and ramped-down pulse shape. Despite the defects and softening in the cladding due to the formation of retained austenite, the cladding shows better wear resistance at lower loads compared to the heat-treated base material.