Fibre laser micro-cladding of Co-based alloys on stainless steel

Laser micro-cladding by powder injection has been used to produce Co-based alloy clad strips with geometrical characteristics in the micrometer range (width: 45 µm, height: 15 µm). A new experimental set-up based on the use of a single mode fibre laser and a powder microfeeder was used to produce such coatings. A systematic study on the influence of several processing parameters (laser power, processing speed, mean precursor particle size) on the geometric features of the clad strips was carried out. Moreover Young's modulus and hardness measurements of the micro-clad strips allow affirming that these micro-cladding coatings maintain the mechanical properties typical from this hardfacing alloy.Reparation of defective microparts, surface functionalisation of small areas, or rapid fabrication of prototypes are areas of application of this rapid one step microcoating technique.