The in-flight temperature variation and dissolution of WC powder particles producing an Fe–Cr–W–C system by direct laser deposition

WC and AISI 410 stainless steel precursor powders are used in order to produce an Fe–Cr–W–C surface alloy by in situ reaction during laser cladding. A mathematical model describing the temperature development of powder particles during their descent onto the melt pool is compared directly with experimental results. It is identified that for a parameter locked system having powder particles with different thermal properties, effective full dissolution and good homogeneity can be achieved by selecting the correct size range of the precursor powders. Albeit with consistent chemistries, the resulting microstructures show extreme undercooling and the phases vary from those predicted using computational software. It is inferred that further heat treatment is necessary to achieve the ultimate desired microstructure.