Abstract
Highly wear resistant overlays for abrasive environments can be provided by welding technologies such as Plasma Transferred Arc Welding (PTAW) or Laser Cladding. Therefore, these overlays can contain higher amounts of hard particles with a desired homogeneous distribution through the weld overlay, all embedded in a metal matrix. Depending on the welding technology, the dissolution of the hard particles has to be considered as result of heat input and chemical reaction between hard particles and metal matrix while welding. Cast Tungsten Carbides (CTC) in self-fluxing Ni based alloys are widely used and accepted compositions and allow to target requirements such as hardness, impact toughness and/or corrosion resistance if required. This investigation compares CTC with Macroline Tungsten Carbide regarding abrasive wear resistance in Ni, Co and Fe based alloys applied by PTAW and Laser cladding and gives an outlook on potential new solutions for wear resistance in abrasive conditions. Beside the relative wear resistance, this investigation also focusses on the seam thickness as reaction zone between the carbide particles and the metal matrices. A first SEM and EDX analysis of a worn surface and precipitated phases provides an explanation regarding wear behavior in abrasive conditions.
