Influence of Cu on microstructure and wear resistance of TiC/TiB/TiN reinforced composite coating fabricated by laser cladding

The TiC/TiB/TiN reinforced composite coating was prepared by laser cladding of the Fe/Al + B4C/SiC pre-placed powders on Ti–6Al–4V alloy in the nitrogen protective atmosphere. Nevertheless, the pores and micro-crack were present in this coating. Through the experiment, it was found that Cu can be used to improve the microstructure and wear resistance of this composite coating, and Ti3CuN/Ti2Cu/CuAl were produced. Due to the action of Cu, the crystals had enough time to grow up, and the wear volume loss of the composite coating was approximately 7–8 times less than that of the Ti–6Al–4V substrate.