Effect of laser process parameters on the dilution, microstructure, and wear behaviour of Tribaloy™ T800 cladding on AISI 316 stainless steel

Tribaloy™ T800, a Co-based alloy, exhibits remarkable tribological properties by virtue of its high-volume fraction of intermetallic Laves phase making it an attractive hard-facing material. Hard-facing by laser deposition results in dilution from the substrate, and thereby, the properties of the clad are altered. This paper reports the influence of processing parameters on the dilution, microstructure, and wear behaviour of Tribaloy™ T800 on AISI 316 stainless steel. A systematic set of 20 clads was deposited by varying laser power and cladding speed, keeping powder flow and spot diameter constant. While dilution decreased at lower laser powers (800 and 1000 W) with increasing cladding speed (5–20 mm s⁻¹), at higher laser powers (1200 and 1400 W), the opposite trend was observed. The Fe intermixing from the substrate along with the cooling rate governs the volume fraction and size of the Laves phases which controls the properties of T800 clads. The clad with the least geometric dilution (5.7%) exhibits the lowest wear rate of 0.54 × 10⁻⁵ mm³ N⁻¹ m⁻¹, increasing to 2.88 × 10⁻⁵ mm³ N⁻¹ m⁻¹ as the dilution increased to 60%.