Abstract
Effective subsequent heat treatment is essential for achieving excellent performance in maraging steel. This paper presents the preparation of a maraging steel coating with a high content of Mo and Co elements using laser cladding technology. The study investigates the effects of direct aging treatment and solid solution-aging treatment on the microstructure, elemental distribution, crystallographic features, nanoindentation characteristics, and wear behavior of the coatings. The results indicate that all three coatings consist primarily of α-Fe with a small amount of γ-Fe, and solid solution-aging treatment effectively inhibits the martensite-to-austenite transformation. Following both heat treatments, a significant number of nanoscale precipitated phases were observed within the martensitic matrix, proving pivotal in enhancing the coatings' hardness. Notably, the solid solution-aging-treated coating exhibits excellent nanomechanical properties, with a hardness of approximately 8.39 ± 0.19 GPa, representing a remarkable 75 % improvement compared to the untreated coating. Second-phase strengthening and dislocation strengthening are identified as the primary mechanisms responsible for enhancing the solid solution-aging coating. Furthermore, solid solution-aging treatment significantly enhances the wear performance of the coatings, as evidenced by a dry sliding average friction coefficient of 0.578 and a wear volume of (3.18 ± 0.97) × 106 μm3, surpassing those of the original coatings. The observed wear mechanisms include abrasive wear, oxidative wear, and slight adhesive wear, with the precipitation of nanoscale precipitated phases playing a key role in enhancing wear resistance.
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