Improving the tribocorrosion resistance of Ti6Al4V surface by laser surface cladding with TiNiZrO 2 composite coating

Ti6Al4V alloy was laser cladded with titanium, nickel and zirconia powders in different ratio using a 2 kW CW ytterbium laser system (YLS). The microstructures of the cladded layers were examined using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). Corrosion and tribocorrosion tests were performed on the cladded surface in 1 M H 2 SO 4 solution. The microstructure revealed the transformation from a dense dendritic structure in TiNi coating to a flower-like structure observed in TiNiZrO 2 cladded layers. There was a significant increase in surface microindentation hardness values of the cladded layers due to the present of hard phase ZrO 2 particles. The results obtained show that addition of ZrO 2 improves the corrosion resistance property of TiNi coating but decrease the tribocorrosion resistance property. The surface hardening effect induced by ZrO 2 addition, combination of high hardness of Ti 2 Ni phase could be responsible for the mechanical degradation and chemical wear under sliding conditions.