Effect of rare earth oxide on the properties of laser cladding layer and machining vibration suppressing in side milling

Laser cladding, which can increase the hardness and wear resistance of the used components, is widely used in remanufacture and sustainable manufacturing field. Generally, laser cladding layer should to be machined to meet the function as well as the assembly requirements. Milling is an effective mean for precision machining. However, there exist great differences of physical and mechanical performances between laser cladding layer and substrate material, including microstructure, hardness, wear resistance, etc. This produces some new milling problems for laser cladding layer, such as machining vibration which may lead to low productivity and worse surface integrity. Thus, it is necessary to develop a novel laser cladding powder which can improve the surface hardness and wear resistance, while reducing the machining vibration in milling. Laser cladding layer was prepared by FeCr alloy and La2O3 mixed powder. The effect of La2O3 on the coating properties was investigated. Signal analysis methods of the time and frequency domain were used to evaluate the effect of the La2O3 on machining vibration in the side milling laser cladding layer. The key findings of this study are: (a) with the La2O3 content increasing, the grain size decreases dramatically and the microstructure of laser cladding layer are refine; (b) the hardness and wear resistance of the coatings with La2O3 are improved significantly; and (c) the machining vibrations of laser cladding layer with La2O3 are obviously reduced and the chatter is effectively avoided occurring.