Impact toughness and wear property of WC/H13-Inconel625 composites by laser cladding

Abstract

To improve the poor toughness of traditional particulate reinforced composites, microstructurally toughened composites with WC/H13 as reinforced region and Inconel625 as toughened region were prepared by laser cladding. The microstructure of composites and impact fracture were analysed by optical microscopy, ultra-depth 3D microscope and scanning electron microscopy. The impact toughness and wear property of composites were investigated by Charpy impact testing machine and friction-abrasion testing machine. The results show that the reinforced region of 20% (volume fraction,the same below)WC/H13 is reinforced by WC particles and M6C carbides while the toughened region of Inconel625 alloy is mainly composed of columnar dendrite crystals and precipitated phases. The average hardness of Inconel625 is 230.5HV, while the hardness of WC/H13 is gradually increased to 402HV from the interface to the center area. The average impact energy of microstructurally toughened composites is 13.8J/cm2, which is 5.5 times of traditional 10% WC/H13. In the condition of dry sliding wear at room temperature, the wear resistance of microstructurally toughened composites is comparable to traditional 10% WC/H13 and 5 times of quenched H13 steel. The average friction coefficient of microstructurally toughened composites is 81% of traditional 10% WC/H13 and 80% of quenched H13 steel, which indicates excellent anti-wear and wear resistant property. By microstructurally toughening, the impact toughness of particulate reinforced composites can be substantially improved with excellent wear resistant property ensured.

Keywords

• laser cladding
• composite material
• microstructurally toughened
• impact toughness
• wear resistance