The Effect of Powder Composition on the Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of Laser Cladding 60NiTi Alloy Coatings on SS 316L

Two kinds of 60NiTi powders were prepared by pure Ni mixed with Ti powders, and 55NiTi alloy powder with pure Ni powder and both the powders were fully mixed by alcohol ball milling. Two kinds of coatings (denoted as 60Ni-40Ti and 55NiTi-5Ni) were prepared on a 316L stainless steel substrate by laser cladding. The microstructure, microhardness and electrochemical behavior of the prepared coatings were investigated extensively. The results show that 55NiTi-5Ni has a typical dendritic eutectic structure, but 60Ni-40Ti tends to form a eutectic network structure. The main phases in both coatings are (Ni, Fe)Ti and (Ni, Fe)3Ti; however, the (Ni, Fe)Ti phase is dominant in 55NiTi-5Ni, but the (Ni, Fe)3Ti phase is more prevalent in 60Ni-40Ti. The microhardness was significantly improved with the 316L stainless steel substrate, and the microhardness of 55NiTi-5Ni is slightly higher than 60Ni-40Ti. The corrosion resistance of the two coatings in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution also leads to significant improvements compared with the substrate, and the corrosion resistance of 55NiTi-5Ni was also increased. These different behaviors and characteristics might be related to the different microstructures. Uniform and fine eutectic structure in 55NiTi-5Ni coating lead to better performance, which is also conducive to the formation of the dense oxide film to improve corrosion resistance.