Influence of WC ceramic particles on structures and properties of laser cladding Ni50-WC coatings

This study reported the fabrication of Ni50 and Ni50-WC coatings while employing the laser cladding manufacture (LCM) technique. The surface and cross-sectional morphologies, microhardness, phase structure, corrosion, and wear resistances of the coatings were measured using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), stereoscopic microscope, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), microhardness tester, electrochemical workstation, and friction and wear tester. These results illustrated the emergence of γ-(Ni, Fe), WC, W2C, M23C6, M7C3, and Ni3Fe phases in Ni50-10WC and Ni50-20WC coatings. Besides, W and C contents were higher in Ni50-20WC coating than that in Ni50-10WC coating. The average microhardness of the Ni50-10WC and Ni50-20WC coatings was 655.2 HV and 817.9 HV, respectively, which tripled or quadrupled the substrates' average microhardness. Among all coatings, Ni50 had the lowest corrosion potential value of -0.83 V, indicating poor anti-corrosion efficiency. Ni50-10WC and Ni50-20WC coatings had wear depths of approximately 13.1 μm and 8.3 μm, respectively indicating the outstanding wear resistance of all coatings. Furthermore, the Ni50-20WC coating exhibited the lowest average friction coefficient (0.41) of all coatings because of its fine and compact structure.