Design and laser cladding of Ti–Fe–Zr alloy coatings

• Ti–Fe–Zr alloys were designed using a “cluster-plus-glue-atom” model.
• Ti–Fe–Zr alloy coatings were prepared by laser cladding on TA15 alloy substrate.
• The coatings are composed of the β-(Ti,Zr), the TiFe and the Zr2Fe phases.
• The coating with 7.1 at.% Zr content has the highest hardness value.
• The coating with 7.1 at.% Zr has the best tribological properties.

Ti–Fe–Zr alloys were designed using a “cluster-plus-glue-atom” model, and the alloy coatings were prepared by laser cladding on TA15 titanium substrate. When the Zr content is less than 7.1 at.%, the cladding layers mainly consist of TiFe dendrites and β-(Ti,Zr) + TiFe + Zr2Fe eutectics. With the increase of the Zr content, the grain is refined, and the volume fraction of the eutectics has increased dramatically. Single eutectic structure has been obtained as the Zr content increases to 7.1 at.%. When the Zr content is higher than the critical point, the cladding layers are mainly composed of β-(Ti, Zr) dendrites and β-(Ti,Zr) + TiFe + Zr2Fe eutectics. Compared with the cladding layers with Zr content less than 7.1 at.%, the grain is coarse, and the volume fraction of the eutectics has decreased significantly. The results suggest that the cladding layer with 7.1 at.% Zr has the highest hardness value and the best tribological properties.