Microstructure, mechanical and wear properties of laser processed SiC particle reinforced coatings on titanium

Laser processing of Ti-SiC composite coating on titanium was carried out to improve wear resistance using Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS™) - a commercial rapid prototyping technology. During the coating process a Nd:YAG laser was used to create small liquid metal pool on the surface of Ti substrate in to which SiC powder was injected to create Ti-SiC metal matrix composite layer. The composite layers were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy equipped with fine probe chemical analysis. Laser parameters were found to have strong influence on the dissolution of SiC, leading to the formation of TiSi2, Ti5Si3 and TiC with a large amount of SiC on the surface. Detailed matrix microstructural analysis showed the formation of non-stoichiometric compounds and TiSi2 in the matrix due to non-equilibrium rapid solidification during laser processing. The average Young's modulus of the composite coatings was found to be in the range of 602 and 757GPa. Under dry sliding conditions, a considerable increase in wear resistance was observed, i.e., 5.91×10-4mm3/Nm for the SiC reinforced coatings and 1.3×10-3mm3/Nm for the Ti substrate at identical test conditions. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.