The Influence of Y2O3 Dosage on the Performance of Fe60/WC Laser Cladding Coating

To prepare a high-performance Fe-based laser cladding coating, herein, various Fe60/WC/Y2O3 coatings are deposited on the surface of 42CrMo steel plate via a laser cladding technique. The WC dosage is fixed as 10 wt%, while the dosage of Y2O3 ranges from 0 to 7.5 wt%. The influences of Y2O3 dosage on the coating hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance are investigated. With the addition of Y2O3, the feature peak of WC disappears, and the peaks of M23C6 gradually weaken, indicating that Y2O3 promotes the decomposition of WC and suppresses the formation of new metal carbides. When the dosage of Y2O3 is 2.5 wt%, a grid-like structure is formed on the coating surface, suggesting uniform distribution of decomposed W within the Fe matrix. When the Y2O3 dosage exceeds 5 wt%, a large amount of CO2 gas is released, leading to an increase in surface pores. Through a comparison, the optimal dosage of Y2O3 is 2.5 wt%, and the resulting 3# coating has the highest hardness of 861.97 HV. Moreover, the 3# coating also shows the minimum friction coefficient and the minimum wear volume, reflecting its superior wear resistance. The polished coating serves as a working electrode, and the corrosion resistance is tested in 3.5% NaCl solution. The sample containing 2.5 wt% Y2O3 has the highest corrosion potential and the lowest corrosion current density, indicating excellent corrosion resistance. The enhanced performance is ascribed to the improved surface quality and the formation of a W-reinforced grid structure. The high-performance coating has promising application potential in material and component repair.