Hardfacing characteristics of S42000 stainless steel powder with added silicon nitride using a CO2 laser

This study examined hardfaced cladding of S42000 stainless steel powder with added silicon nitride Si3N4 on a medium carbon steel using a 1200-W CO2 laser. Experimental results indicated that a well-proportioned cladding layer was obtained with an overlap of 50% at a traverse speed of 5 mm/s and a powder feed rate of 2 g/min. The degree of dilution, depth/width (D/W) ratio and microhardness of the cladding layer was increased by adding up to 5 wt.% silicon nitride. Retained austenite and wear decreased with increasing amounts of silicon nitride addition. The silicon nitride decomposed in the cladding layer during the laser treatment.