Microstructure and wear property of the Ti5Si3/TiC reinforced Co-based coatings fabricated by laser cladding on Ti-6Al-4V

Ti5Si3/TiC reinforced Co-based composite coatings were fabricated on Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy by laser cladding with Co42 and SiC mixture. Microstructure and wear property of the cladding coatings with different content of SiC were investigated. During the cladding process, the original SiC dissolved and reacted with Ti forming Ti5Si3 and TiC. The complex in situ formed phases were found beneficial to the improvement of the coating property. Results indicated that the microhardness of the composite coatings was enhanced to over 3 times the substrate. The wear resistance of the coatings also showed distinct improvement (18.4-57.4 times). More SiC gave rise to better wear resistance within certain limits. However, too much SiC (20 wt%) was not good for the further improvement of the wear property.