Process improvement in laser hot wire cladding for martensitic stainless steel based on the Taguchi method

Abstract

Laser hot wire cladding, with the prominent features of low heat input, high energy efficiency, and high precision, is widely used for remanufacturing metal parts. The cladding process, however, needs to be improved by using a quantitative method. In this work, volumetric defect ratio was proposed as the criterion to describe the integrity of forming quality for cladding layers. Laser deposition experiments with FV520B, one of martensitic stainless steels, were designed by using the Taguchi method. Four process variables, namely, laser power (P), scanning speed (V_s), wire feed rate (V_f), and wire current (I), were optimized based on the analysis of signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio. Metallurgic observation of cladding layer was conducted to compare the forming quality and to validate the analysis method. A stable and continuous process with the optimum parameter combination produced uniform microstructure with minimal defects and cracks, which resulted in a good metallurgical bonding interface.

Keywords

process optimization / Taguchi method / signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio / volumetric defect ratio / laser hot wire cladding

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (Grant No. 2011CB013404). The authors are grateful to the State Key Laboratory of Tribology and Dr. Peng Wen for facility support.

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

2016 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg