Influence of Oxidation of Ti Particle During Laser Remelting Process on the Microstructure of Laser Remelted NiTi Coatings

Abstract

Abstract Commercial available Ni and Ti powder were blended together and deposited on stainless steel by atmospheric plasma spray(APS). Subsequently the as-sprayed coatings were laser remelted with a Nd -YAG pulsed laser source. Cross-sections of as-sprayed and laser-remelted coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Prior to SEM observations, the laser remelted coatings were polished and etched by Kroll etchant. Meanwhile, the energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) was employed to analyze the chemical distribution of the coating both as-sprayed and laser remelted. The results indicated that APS sprayed NiTi coatings presented a dense microstructure with Ni splats and Ti splats distributing uniformly. Oxygen partial pressure in the argon leads to the burning of Ti splats during the laser remelting process. And Ti oxides located at the bottom of the laser molten pool because of the laser stiffness and molten flow. Moreover, the top part of the molten pool mainly involved in Ni columnar grains.