Research and development status of laser cladding on magnesium alloys: A review

•Laser cladding material systems on magnesium alloys are reviewed entirely.•Novel devices used for laser cladding are summarized.•The existing problems and the corresponding solutions are discussed.•Potential development tendency is forecasted based on the latest research progress.

Magnesium alloys are one of the most promising lightweight structural materials. However, the poor corrosion and wear resistance restrain their further application. As a kind of surface modification technique, laser cladding treatment is superior to others owing to its unique characteristics such as high efficiency and the metallurgical bonding between the coatings and substrates. In this paper, the laser cladding process and the effects of processing parameters, including laser power, scanning velocity, beam focal position, feeding ways of the material etc., are discussed in detail. The material systems preplaced on magnesium alloys are summarized. Except for the traditional metallic materials, novel ternary alloys, amorphous alloys and high entropy alloys (HEAs) are widely used and apparent advantages are exhibited. In terms of the problems existing in the laser cladding process of magnesium alloys, some potential solutions and the development tendency are reviewed.