Two-body abrasive wear studies of laser produced stainless steel and stainless steel + SiC composite clads

Two-body abrasive wear studies of stainless steel and its composite with SiC powder are reported in the present paper. The alloy and composite clads were produced on En 3b mild steel substrates using a 2 kW CW CO2 laser as a heat generating source. The cladding material was injected into the laser produced melt pool in the form of fine powder using a pneumatic powder delivery system. The clad formed were generally uniform with high hardness and wear resistance with low dilution from the substrate. The hardness and wear resistance of the alloy clad surfaces were markedly increased with the inclusion of SiC particles in the cladding mixture. In the present studies instead of using the conventional pin-on-disc method of wear measurement, a more realistic and practical wear testing procedure was adapted. The wear-testing machine used was capable of measuring wear of three comparatively larger (25 mm × 25 mm × 10 mm) clad samples by abrading simultaneously against a rotating alumina disc.