Microstructure and Fatigue of EA4T Steel in Laser Cladding Remanufacturing
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The article highlights peculiarities of laser cladding remanufacturing technology to repair railway axles in combination with the failure behaviors of railway axles. Аuthors analyzed microstructure, elemental distribution, phase composition, microhardness, bond strength and fatigue properties of the cladding layers. However, no attention is paid to the comparison of the obtained results (repaired EA4T axle steel using FeCrNiMoRE powder) with the results obtained by Wenjing Chen et al. [10-11] (repaired EA4T axle steel using Fe-Cr-Ni (Fe314) powder).
The article is interesting, but a number of shortcomings need to be corrected:
1. After the word “Fig1” (Line 82) a dot should be inserted, i.e. “Fig. 1”.
2. The authors should pay attention to the fact that the size and shape of the powders affect the properties of the coatings. If this was not the subject of the article, then the problem of the influence of the size and shape of the powders should be reflected in the introduction (for example, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11106-019-00033-8, https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0012.0736).
3. It should be explained why three values are given for “Impacting energy”. It should also be indicated on the basis of how many samples (measurements) the characteristics given in Table 2 were determined.
4. It should be explained what was the reason for selecting the indentation load of 1.96 N when measuring the Vickers hardness.
5. The correctness of the references to Fig. 4 (Line 125) and Fig. 11 (Line 194) should be checked.
6. The text in legends in Fig. 7b, c, d and Fig. 10a, b, c cannot be recognized.
7. The text in Fig. 9b cannot be recognized.
8. The text on the horizontal axis in Fig. 14 overlaps, so it is difficult to analyze the results presented in this figure.
9. More new References (2019-2022) should be added. There are many articles related to research data, for example https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0014.6973
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
the article has been revised in accordance with your comments. details as follows:
- After the word “Fig1” (Line 82) a dot should be inserted, i.e. “Fig. 1”.
Response: Modified to “Fig. 1”
- The authors should pay attention to the fact that the size and shape of the powders affect the properties of the coatings. If this was not the subject of the article, then the problem of the influence of the size and shape of the powders should be reflected in theintroduction(forexample, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11106-019-00033-8, https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0012.0736).
Response: A powder of a certain size (line100) was selected according to reference [22],Lines 54-56 of the article describe the effect of this powder on the fatigue properties of the specimens.
- It should be explained why three values are given for “Impacting energy”. It should also be indicated on the basis of how many samples (measurements) the characteristics given in Table 2 were determined.
Response: Three groups of samples were used for the experiment, and the average value was taken.
- It should be explained what was the reason for selecting the indentation load of 1.96 N when measuring the Vickers hardness.
Response:Because the thickness of cladding layer was relatively small, if the load was too large, the hardness value would be affected, but if the load was too small, the error would be large. Therefore, in the hardness test, the loading force was 1.96 N and maintained for 20 seconds. (line132-135)
- The correctness of the references to Fig. 4 (Line 125) and Fig. 11 (Line 194) should be checked.
Response:Confirmed after careful inspection，the references to Fig. 4 and Fig. 11 are correct.
- The text in legends in Fig. 7b, c, d and Fig. 10a, b, c cannot be recognized.
Response: already edited
- The text in Fig. 9b cannot be recognized.
Response: already edited
- The text on the horizontal axis in Fig. 14 overlaps, so it is difficult to analyze the results presented in this figure.
Response: already edited
- More new References (2019-2022) should be added. There are many articles related to research data, for example https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0014.6973
Response: It has increased
Reviewer 2 Report
The manuscript "Microstructure and Fatigue of EA4T Steel in Laser Cladding 2 Remanufacturing" was studied by Wenjing Chen et al. In my point of view, this manuscript needs more clarification and the work presents some problems and is not acceptable in the present form.
1. There are many grammatical mistakes/English mistakes that are needed to be corrected. A thorough check on the language is required. Extensive editing of English language and style is required.
2. Please explain more about the novelty of this work in the introduction.
3. Figures 9 and 10 are not clear and must be corrected.
4. The axes of figure 14 must be corrected.
5. How did you analyze the XRD pattern? Please include the standard cards in the manuscript.
6. I recommend the authors to compare their results with the results of other research groups.
7. The authors should explain in more details about their results.
Author Response
Dear reviewer,
the article has been revised in accordance with your comments. details as follows:
- There are many grammatical mistakes/English mistakes that are needed to be corrected. A thorough check on the language is required. Extensive editing of English language and style is required.
Response: Grammar errors and English errors have been fixed
- Please explain more about the novelty of this work in the introduction.
Response: Although there are many researches on repairing EA4T steel by cladding iron-based alloy powder with laser cladding process, there are no relevant researches on increasing the toughness of the bonding zone between cladding layer and EA4T steel matrix by adding rare earth elements into the powder.(line77-80 ) .
- Figures 9 and 10 are not clear and must be corrected.
Response: It has been modified
4.The axes of figure 14 must be corrected.
Response: It has been modified
- How did you analyze the XRD pattern? Please include the standard cards in the manuscript.
Response: Analysis and card numbers (line182-196)
6 I recommend the authors to compare their results with the results of other research groups.
Response: The results of the experimental analysis are compared with those of others, especially in the microshear test.
- The authors should explain in more details about their results.
Response: Some result analysis has been added.
Reviewer 3 Report
The work is interesting especially for engineers dealing with the regeneration of structural elements. The test results were presented in a sufficiently clear manner. Doubts are raised by the designation of the grade of laser alloyed steel - EA4T. Please specify the standards according to which this designation is, or use the commonly used worldwide designation of this steel. In further studies, it is suggested to select laser cladding parameters that reduce the grain size, which will increase the hardness of the structure.Author Response
Dear reviewer,
EA4T steel gets its name from:
[19] European Committee for Standardization (CEN).EN13260:2009+A1:2010 Railway Applications-Wheelsets and Bogies-Wheelsets-Product Requirements [S]. Brussels: European Committee for Standardization,2010,p30-31.
Round 2
Reviewer 1 Report
The authors took into account all comments of the reviewer and made appropriate corrections to the manuscript.
Reviewer 2 Report
This paper can be accepted after minor spell check and text editing.
