Study on the Preparation and Characteristics of Copper-Chromium Alloy Cladding Layer

Copper is widely used in the power industry due to its good electrical conductivity. However, owing to its low hardness and resistance to abrasion, copper is prone to damage when working under harsh environmental conditions. In order to protect the power equipment and improve the surface strength of the material, this study explores the feasibility of using laser cladding technology to prepare a protective layer on the copper substrate. The phase, microstructure and element distribution of the cladding layer were analyzed, and the changes in the microhardness of the cross-section were measured. The wear resistance of the two cladding layers was tested and compared with the wear resistance of pure copper. The experimental results show that the cladding layer has uniform structure distribution, fine grains, and no element segregation; the hardness of the cladding layer is greatly increased, and the average hardness of the CuCr20 cladding layer is 155.8 HV, which can reach 2.2 times that of the substrate. The average hardness of the CuCr40 cladding layer is 254.4HV, which can reach 3.6 times that of the matrix. The wear resistance of the CuCr40 cladding layer is higher than that of the CuCr20 cladding layer, which can reach three times that of pure copper. Experiments have proved that the protective effect can be achieved by preparing a laser cladding layer on the surface of pure copper.