Effect of Ni Content on Cracking and Wear Resistance of Laser Cladded In-situ Nitriding Layer on 38CrMoAl

ZHANG Qunli; LIU Cong; CHEN Zhijun; YANG Gaolin; HE Jinwen; YAO Jianhua

doi:10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.23.012

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Surface Technology ›› 2025, Vol. 54 ›› Issue (23) : 165-174. DOI: 10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.23.012

Laser Surface Modification Technology

Effect of Ni Content on Cracking and Wear Resistance of Laser Cladded In-situ Nitriding Layer on 38CrMoAl

ZHANG Qunli^1,2, LIU Cong^1,2, CHEN Zhijun^1,2, YANG Gaolin^1,2, HE Jinwen^1,2, YAO Jianhua^1,2,*

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Abstract

To address the issues of prolonged duration and high energy consumption associated with conventional nitriding processes for 38CrMoAl steel, laser cladding of TC4 alloy is employed on a 38CrMoAl substrate to achieve in-situ nitriding. However, the rapid cooling and solidification during laser cladding induce significant residual stresses, and the substantial differences in thermophysical properties between the cladding material and substrate make the coating highly susceptible to cracking. In this study, nickel was incorporated into the cladding material to mitigate crack formation in the coating. The influence of varying Ni content on both crack suppression behavior and wear resistance performance in laser-clad TC4 coatings with in-situ nitriding on 38CrMoAl substrates was systematically investigated.
With a rectangular block of 38CrMoAl with dimensions of 100 mm×50 mm×10 mm as the substrate, the surface was ground smooth with sandpaper and then cleaned with anhydrous ethanol to remove impurities. Prior to the experiment, different mass fractions (20%, 30%, and 50%) of Ni powder were added to the TC4 powder to form the cladding powder mixture. The powder was uniformly blended using a planetary ball mill. Subsequently, 5% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) was used as a binder, and the mixed powder was stirred with the binder into a paste, which was then evenly applied onto the substrate. A scanning galvanometer laser system was employed for the cladding process. After laser cladding, the samples were sectioned along the cross section with a wire electrical discharge machining, polished, and then etched with Kroll's reagent (V_HF∶V_HNO3∶V_H2O=1∶2∶17). The microstructure of the coating was examined by optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while an energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) was used to analyze elemental distribution. The phase composition of the coating was determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD). A microhardness tester was employed to measure the hardness of both the coating and the substrate. Friction and wear tests were conducted using a tribometer, and the wear track morphology was observed to calculate the wear loss.
When the Ni content in TC4 reached 30%, the number of cracks in the coating significantly decreased, demonstrating a remarkable crack-inhibiting effect. The addition of Ni also led to noticeable refinement of TiN particle size in the coating. The simultaneous presence of nickel-titanium intermetallics and titanium nitride (TiN) phases contributed to a coating hardness of 949.3HV0.3, approximately four times that of the substrate. However, the coating hardness exhibited a decreasing trend with increasing Ni content. Tribological analysis revealed that the Ni-modified coating achieved a 58.74% reduction in wear loss compared with the substrate, with marginal improvement over the Ni-free coating. The hard nitride phases in the coating caused pronounced spalling pits along wear tracks. The coating demonstrated enhanced wear resistance, with its dominant wear mechanisms identified as abrasive wear and adhesive wear.
In summary, adding 30% Ni to TC4 powder effectively suppresses cracking in the in-situ nitrided coating on 38CrMoAl. The presence of Ni introduces hard nickel-titanium compounds alongside nitrides, enhancing both hardness and wear resistance compared with the substrate. Although the wear resistance improves with Ni addition, the hardness decreases compared with the Ni-free coating. Both hardness and wear resistance decline as the Ni content increases.

Key words

38CrMoAl / laser cladding / in-situ nitriding / Ni element / crack inhibition / wear resistance

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ZHANG Qunli, LIU Cong, CHEN Zhijun, YANG Gaolin, HE Jinwen, YAO Jianhua. Effect of Ni Content on Cracking and Wear Resistance of Laser Cladded In-situ Nitriding Layer on 38CrMoAl[J]. Surface Technology. 2025, 54(23): 165-174 https://doi.org/10.16490/j.cnki.issn.1001-3660.2025.23.012

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