Product Code: JLA_19_1_32

Authors:
S. Sun
Y. Durandet
M. Brandt
Industrial Laser Applications Laboratory, Industrial Research Institute Swinburne, Swinburne University of Technology, 533–545 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia

The effective melt pool temperature in pulsed Nd:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser cladding of Stellite 6 was measured with a two-color pyrometer. The pulse peak temperature (T_p) and durations when the melt pool temperature is above the melting point of Stellite 6 powder (t₁) and substrate (t₂) in each pulse have been calculated and averaged. The effects of laser operating parameters (pulse energy, pulse frequency, spot overlap, powder mass flow rate, and pulse length) on these values have been investigated. It is found that T_p depends on the peak laser power, pulse length and determines the maximum size of melt pool (D_M), whereas both t₁ and t₂ increase with peak power, pulse frequency (f), pulse length, and spot overlap. The prediction of the clad area, the total area of a single-track clad layer, based on T_p, t₁, and t₂ is given for pulsed laser cladding of Stellite 6. Comparison between the experimental data and prediction has been made with a correlation coefficient of 0.99. In order to produce a larger single-track clad area, the higher value of the product of f⋅t₁ and longer beam interaction time (τ) are required.