Coatings and surface are being extensively used to increase the service lif
e of die casting dies by reducing molten metal corrosion and erosion of the
die. Owing to their excellent corrosion and abrasion resistance, refractor
y ceramic coatings are particularly suitable for coating die casting dies,
and titanium carbide can provide significant resistance to molten aluminium
corrosion and erosion. Technologies currently in use for applying such coa
tings include physical vapour deposition, plasma spraying, and ion implanta
tion. Laser surface engineering is a very attractive technique becuuse of i
ts flexibility, non-equilibrium processing capabilities (involving high sol
idification rates in the range 10(3)-10(8) K s(-1)), and ability to produce
metastable phases nod increase the solid solubility limit beyond the equil
ibrium phase diagram. Coatings thus produced are metallurgically bounded, w
hich provides better substrate adhesion. The effects of the grain size of l
aser coated TiC coatings and of laser surface treatment itself on corrosion
and erosion behaviour of H13 die steel in molten Al casting alloy A390 wer
e investigated in the present study. The corrosion rate is accelerated by t
urbulence and by an increase in melt temperature. A significant improvement
in corrosion resistance was achieved for H13 steel coated with TiC. Finer
grain size and use of laser shock processing contribute to improved corrosi
on and erosion resistance of steel in molten aluminium. Based on metallogra
phic and energy dispersive spectrometry studies, the effectiveness of the c
oatings along with possible reasons for their behaviour are discussed.