Microstructure and wear properties of laser-clad NiCo alloy coating on Inconel 718 alloy

A NiCo coating was successfully prepared on the Inconel 718 substrate by pulsed laser cladding. The characteristics and performance of the coating, including microstructure, phase constitution, hardness, friction coefficient, wear volume, wear morphology, and residual stress, were investigated by multiple characterization methods. The hardness of the coating is 427.82 HV, 21.1% higher than that of the Inconel 718 substrate. The coating also shows a higher resistance to wear than the substrate. In addition, the coating's surface residual stress is compressive stress, which prevents crack generation and improves fatigue strength.