2D FE Simulations of High Speed Steel Laser Cladding Process

A 2D Finite Element thermal model of Directed Energy Deposition (laser cladding) process of a High Speed Steel thick deposit is developed to explain the observed microstructural heterogeneities over the whole height of a 36-layer deposit. This model is validated with the substrate temperature and the melt pool depth of the last clad layer experimentally measured. The correlation of the computed thermal fields with the observed microstructures is carried out for four different deposit depths possessing different microstructures. A deeper understanding of the effect of the melt superheating temperature and the thermal cyclic history on carbide solidification is reached.