The microstructure and the wear performance of high carbon ferrochrome Fecrv15 and Fecrv15+cr manufacture through laser additive manufacturing on steel baseplate for tillage application

Abstract

The enhancement of wear performance of steel baseplate for tillage application was carried out by manufacturing vanadium-chromium carbide coatings in situ by powder infusion of high carbon ferrochrome FeCrV15 powder through laser additive manufacturing. The developed samples were subjected to various microstructural investigations, microhardness and wear tests. The effect of extra chromium addition was also investigated on the developed coatings’ microstructure, hardness and wear performance. It was observed that the extra chromium addition increased the austenitic iron formation, reduced the concentration of the precipitated carbides and resulted in a much bigger grain formation of phases present, which lowered the grain boundary density leading to a reduced hardness of 553 HV for FeCrV15+Cr, compared to 835 HV for FeCrV15; which are significantly higher than 170 HV for the steel substrate. The result produced defect-free coatings with a strong metallurgical bond to the substrate. The FeCrV15 coating displayed an improved, multiple times wear-resistant capacity when contrasted with the FeCrV15+Cr. This excellent resistance is credited to the increased concentration of VC–Cr3C3 particles and increased grain boundary density due to the grain refinement of FeCrV15 coating, which are emphatically fortified in the matrix.