Comprehensive study of process parameters and their effect on tribological properties of laser cladded Ti6Al4V alloy: A review

Titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) is quite a very versatile material due to its high specific strength and the ability to resist corrosion but its usage is restricted in severe wear condition due to its poor tribological properties. Thus, in order to enhance its application, it must be subjected to surface modification techniques. Surface modification consist of the broad range of processes designed to improve the surface properties of different classes of material (ferrous and non-ferrous). Laser coating process is one of such technology which enables the investigator to modify the surface property of metallic base material. Laser coating process provides less dilution and fusion bonded metallic coatings on variety of metallic materials with minimum heat input. Here, this review article presents a study on the various laser process parameter such as travel speed, laser power, coating powders feed rate, composition etc., and their effects on the tribological properties of laser cladded Ti6Al4V (grade5) such as microhardness, wear rate and coefficient of friction (COF) etc. In addition, the effects on different properties such as corrosion resistance, affinity for oxygen and adhesion strength of Ti6Al4V are also reviewed.