Influence of WC Content on Microstructure of WC-Ni Coatings on AISI 18-2Mn Austenitic Stainless Steel Using TIG Cladding

At present, the use of tungsten inert gas (TIG) cladding is an effective method for surface modification of steel-based alloys.This work aims to investigate the effect of tungsten carbide-nickel (WC-Ni) composite coatings deposited using TIG cladding on the surface properties of AISI 18-2Mn austenitic stainless steel substrates.Additionally, the study focuses on considering the influence of WC mass percentage in WC-Ni coatings on these properties.1mm thick pre-placed WC-Ni composite pastes with different wt.% of WC (35, 50, 65, 80 and 95) were used to deposit the coating layers applying a travel speed of 67 mm/min and a current value of 130A.Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy exhibited various microstructures across the clad layers, mostly WC particles scattered throughout the matrix and nickel solid solution dendrites.The cooling rates and the WC density within the composite will determine, the dendrites were little or dense, equiaxial or columnar, finer or coarser, and more or less densely branched.Rather than in the dendrites, the matrix was the main location of the Fe element that was transferred from the substrate material to the molten pool, as demonstrated by energy dispersive spectroscopy, whereas the distribution of the W element clearly indicated the locations and orientations of the dendrites.