Scripta

METALLURGICA

V o l . 17, pp. 1 3 1 1 - 1 3 1 4 , 1983 Printed in t h e U . S . A .

Pergamon P r e s s Ltd. All rights reserved

CHARACTERIZATION OF FUSION ZONE DEFECTS LASER SURFACE ALLOYING APPLICATIONS

IN

P.A.Molian Department of Mechanical Engineering Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA (Received J u n e 9, 1 9 8 3 ) (Revised September 9, 1983) INTRODUCTION The recent applications of directed energy sources, such as lasers, to materials processing include surface melting, alloying, cladding, heat treating and shock hardening of engineering components. The beneficial effects of laser surface treatment are minimum distortion, development of compressive residual stresses, formation of nonequilibrium crystalline and amorphous phases, refinement of grains, homogenization of microstructures, increased solid solubilities of alloying elements and modification of segregation patterns. These effects, in turn, improve the component's resistance to wear, corrosion and fatigue. However laser surface melting, like conventional welding processes, introduces porosity, cracks and irregular boundaries in both fusion and heat affected zones which impair the surface properties of the irradiated parts. The present investigation, namely laser surface alloying of electrodeposited chromium on iron and carbon steels, describes the characterization of fusion zone defects, the factors that govern the formation of such defects and methods to eliminate them. EXPERIMENTAL Cold-rolled iron (Ferro vac E) and carbon steels (0.2, 0.5 and 1.0% carbon) were electrodeposited with chromium using conventional plating methods. The coating thicknesses ranged from i0 to 200 ~m. After electrodeposition, a batch of samples was vacuum degassed at 205 C and another batch of samples was left without any degassing treatment. The chromium deposited steels (both degassed and non-degassed) were mounted on a numerically controlled x-y table and irradiated with a continuous wave CO 2 laser beam at a power level of 1200 watts. Laser parameters including power, beam size and scan rate were varied to obtain melt penetration depths from i00 to 1500 Dm. After laser treatment, the samples were sectioned, polished, etched and then examined in optical and scanning electron microscopes. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Porosity Figure 1 shows the top views of laser alloyed surfaces of degassed and non-degassed samples. The pores appeared as elongated and irregular in shape and similar to those of Kim and Weinman (1) in laser melted aluminum alloys. A significant amount of hydrogen gas is trapped into the coating during the electrodeposition process as a result of high current density and high temperature. This trapped hydrogen, on laser melting, experiences an increase in temperature and also an increase in pressure, particularly if the pores are of closed type (2). Subsequently the expanding and pressurized gases tend to escape the fusion zone prior to the onset of solidification. If the rate of solidification is greater than the rate at which these gas bubbles rise to the surface, then they either remain as enlarged residual pores or they force out portions of t~e resulting fusion zone surface (Fig. 2). Figures 2a to d show the longitudinal and transverse sections of laser alloyed fusion zones of non-degassed samples. Porosity in the fusion zones is aggravated by either thick chromium coatings or rapid scanning ofthelaserbeam on the material surface. The former is due to the increased concentration of hydrogen gas while the latter is due to lack of time

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Fig. i.

Laser alloyed surfaces of (a) Non-degassed and (b) Degassed specimens.

for the gases to escape out. These results suggest that hydrogen gas porosity in laser alloyed surfaces may be avoided by employing either a thin coating or a low scan rate. If these conditions are not provided, then vacuum degassing prior to laser irradiation is necessary to eliminate the gas porosity. In addition to hydrogen porosity, another form of porosity was also observed, but only in deep penetration melts (melt depth > 700 ~m), as a consequence of@'key hole" effect (3). Figure 3 shows this type of porosity at the bottom of fusion zones. Nonuniform Composition Compositional analysis of fusion zones by X-ray microprobes, as indicated that the variation in chromium content is more pronounced for hour-glass shaped fusion zones, intermediate for triangular shapes and negligible for semicircular shapes. The details on this aspect are described in Reference 4. The fusion z o n e ~ a n Fe-cr alloy (Fig. 4) shows a morphological transition in ferrite structures from bottom to the surface. This is due to a variation in chromium concentration. Crack Formation The most serious limitation of laser alloying of chromium on medium and high carbon steels is the frequent occurrence of cracks. The fusion zone, the heat affected zone and the coating adjacent to the melt pass are the locations usually observed to contain cracks (Fig. 5). The centerline cracks in the fusion zone are identified as shrinkage cracks and are due to inadequate feeding of the molten metal. The susceptibility to this type of cracking is a function of both fusion zone geometry and composition. The fusion zones containing 0.2% C and 1.0% C (Figure 5) were produced under identical laser alloying conditions. This illustrates the effect of carbon in promoting crack formation. Unlike carbon, the chromium content of the fusion zone does not appear to increase the cracking tendency. The aspect ratio (melt depth/melt width) is another factor that increases cracking in the fusion zone. Nonuniform Melt Nonuniform, discontinuous fusion zones are occasionally observed and shown in Figure 6. This is believed to be due to the instability in laser power during processing. In summary, the major flaws associated with laser surface alloying include porosity, cracks and nonuniform composition. Control of laser parameters and coating thickness i s n e c e s s a r y to reduce, and if possible to eliminate, these defects. It is generally observed that the hour-glass fusion zones, characterized by deep penetrations (melt depth > 700 ~m), are accompanied by loss of material through vaporization, low cooling rates, shrinkage cracks, key hole porosity and highly nonuniform compositions. On the contrary, semicircular fusion zones have the advantages of very high cooling rates, uniform composition and minimum defects but they are limited by shallow melt depths (10-300 ~m). The triangular fusion zones have intermediate characteristics. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author would like to thank Prof. William E. Wood for his advice and suggestions. work was partially supported by Army Research Office. i. 2. 3. 4. REFERENCES C.Kim and L.S.Weinman, Scripta Met., v.12, 1978, p.57 J.D.Ayres and R.J.Schaefer, Proceedings of SPIE, v.198, 1979, p.73 E.J.Morgan-Warren, Welding Journal, v.3, 1979, p.76-s P.A.Molian, Scripta Met., v.16, 1982, p.65 This

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'" Fig. 2. Effect of c h r o m i u m coating thickness and scan rate on porosity. a, b: Scan rate = 21 mm/sec, c, d: Scan rate = 42 mm/sec.

Fig. 3.

Key hole p o r o s i t y in a deep p e n e t r a t i o n melt.

Fig. 4.

M i c r o s t r u c t u r a l variation in the fusion zone due to n o n - u n i f o r m composition.

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Fig. 5.

Effect of carbon on crack formation

(a) 0.2% C

(b) 1.0% C

Fig. 6.

Laser alloyed surfaces showing non-uniform melts.