Cobalt-Free Laser Cladding on AISI Type 316L Stainless Steel for Improved Cavitation and Slurry Erosion Wear Behavior

Laser cladding of Colmonoy-5 (a nickel base alloy) and Metco-41C (an iron base alloy) on AISI type 316L stainless steel (SS316L) and their wear behaviors were investigated to establish Co-free clad layers for potential applications in nuclear industry. A 3.5 kW CO2 laser-based system was used to optimize the laser cladding on SS316L substrate. The observed optimum parameters were: laser power of 1.6 kW, scan speed of 0.6 m/min, and powder feed rate of 8 g/min with 60% overlapping. The microstructure studies revealed that the clad layers primarily comprise very fine columnar dendritic structures, while clad-substrate interface exhibited planar and non-epitaxial mode of solidification due to high cooling rates. The cavitation and slurry erosion behaviors of laser clad layers were also compared to that of Stellite-6 for potential direct replacement. The cavitation erosion resistance was improved by a factor of 1.6, 3.7, and 4.1, while the slurry erosion resistances at an impingement angle of 30° were 1.5, 4.8, and 1.8 times better for laser clad surfaces of Colmonoy-5, Metco-41C, and Stellite-6, respectively, as compared to that of bare SS316L substrate. The study demonstrated that Metco-41C is a better choice as Co-free clad material for potential nuclear applications.