PROBLEMS OF LASER CLADDING TECHNIQUE AND INFLUENCE OF THE LASER PROCESSING PARAMETERS

The coatings deposited on the surface of a substrate of a material in powder form, by injection in a laser beam, they could have important a dvantages opposite coatings deposited with other technical. These adva ntages are a very important decrease of the porosity, an interval of t hickness of wide covering, a higher coating hardness, treatment in loc ated areas, etc. In this paper our investigation group presents the pr oblems found utilising this technique: inadequate speed of the particl es, unstableness of the powder flow rate, effect of the angle of injec tion and alterations on the powder flow caused by the protective gas o f the laser focusing head. We also present the adopted solutions and t he improvements that these solutions have supposed for the properties of the coatings. The influence of the laser processing parameters in t he dilution and in the characteristics of the coating is also studied (height of the track, penetration, etc.). Our final objective is to co ntribute to the knowledge of this technique.