On the Laser Cladding of Ti Alloy Ti-6Al-4V with Low Laser Power

Laser cladding is an economic layer-by-layer near-net-shape process for the production and the repair of metallic parts. In this process, a metallic powder is projected onto a substrate while being molten by a laser beam. Laser sources with fairly high power – i.e. typically 2kW − are often used to ensure short building times and high productivity. However, this approach has limitations. Indeed, it is very difficult to produce thin walls at high laser power. Moreover, an increase of the incident energy may give rise to a relatively coarser microstructure, and this will in turn affect the mechanical properties of the component. In order to address these issues, this paper aims at assessing the potential of a laser source with a lower maximum power of 300W to enhance the flexibility of the process. Two types of samples – i.e. thin walls or bulk deposits − were produced at low laser power from alloy Ti-6Al-4V. Their geometry, microstructures and local hardness are characterised and correlated with the thermal history experienced during fabrication.