Numerical simulation and morphological analysis of laser cladded 316L stainless steel on inclined substrates

Laser cladding has been mostly studied based on the horizontal substrate state, but the component surface to be repaired is often complex in actual restoration process. Inclined substrate repair is the basis for studying complex surface repair. In this study, 316L stainless steel powder was taken as the research object. The simulation and experimental verification combined method was adopted to study the morphology of single-track and multi-track overlap on the inclined substrate. The main research contents were as follows: Through the simulation model, the molten pool flow and final cladding layer morphology under different scanning paths of laser cladding on the inclined substrate were analyzed. The results showed that when the inclination angle was less than 90°, the change of the cladding layer morphology had regularity. When the inclination angle was greater than 90°, splashing and dripping occurred in the molten pool under several scanning paths, and the cladding layer morphology was highly unstable. Excessively large inclination angle was not suitable for coaxial powder feeding. Neither positive nor negative y-direction scanning overlap cladding layer was horizontal under inclined posture. The cladding layer morphology with x-positive scanning and y-negative overlap was the most stable. An inclined cladding model considering the inclination factor was established in this study, which provided theoretical guidance and predictive analysis for laser cladding on the inclined substrate. Contributions were made to process optimization, path optimization and improvement of cladding layer quality for inclined substrate cladding in the future.