The main objective of the present work was to determine the influence of laser treatment on microstructure, microhardness, roughness, bonding strength, corrosion resistance and tribological properties of wear resistant coatings produced on C45 carbon steel by the electro-spark deposition (ESD) process. Consumable WC-Co-Al2O3 electrodes were prepared by the powder metallurgy route and transferred to the substrate surface using the EIL-8A apparatus. The cermet layers were subsequently melted by means of the BLS 720 Nd:YAG laser. The coating characterisation studies showed marked improvements in the bonding between the steel substrate and the cermet coating, and in corrosion resistance at the expense of higher surface roughness and minor drop in the Vickers microhardness.
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Radek et al. (2012) studied this question.