| Abstract Scope |
In marine environments, various components of ships generally undergo severe corrosion. Laser cladding (LC) is generally performed to improve the wear and corrosion resistance of substrate materials that are used in severe environments. Laser cladding of CoCrFeNi and CoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloys was performed on DMR 249A steel to evaluate their microstructure, corrosion resistance, and wear characteristics. CoCrFeNi exhibited finer grains (average length: 108 ± 31 μm, width: 30 ± 14 μm) compared to CoCrCuFeNi (178 ± 58 μm and 22 ± 12 μm). Both claddings increased surface hardness over the base metal, with CoCrFeNi and CoCrCuFeNi showing 415 and 310 HV, respectively. CoCrCuFeNi demonstrated superior wear resistance (4.63 × 10⁻¹⁰ mm³/m) due to copper oxide formation, as confirmed by XPS analysis. Corrosion resistance improved in both alloys, with rates of 0.0071 mm/year (CoCrFeNi) and 0.0086 mm/year (CoCrCuFeNi), outperforming the substrate. These results suggest CoCrCuFeNi is a promising candidate for marine applications due to its improved mechanical and corrosion properties. |