**Investigation on the Microstructure and Wear Behavior of Laser-Cladded High Aluminum and Chromium Fe-B-C Coating**

#### **Jingjing Li 1,2, Jiang Ju 1,2 , Weiwei Chang <sup>3</sup> , Chao Yang 1,2 and Jun Wang 1,2,\***


Received: 2 May 2020; Accepted: 25 May 2020; Published: 27 May 2020

**Abstract:** In this study, a high aluminum and chromium Fe-B-C coating was prepared using laser cladding on 2Cr13 steel substrate. The microstructure, microhardness, and wear resistance of the high aluminum and chromium Fe-B-C coating were investigated. The results show that this dense coating possesses good metallurgical bond with the substrate. The microstructure is mainly composed of α-(Fe, Cr, Al) lath martensite, orthorhombic M2B boride, orthogonal M3C2, and orthorhombic M7C<sup>3</sup> carbides. The microhardness of the coating can reach 620 HV which is 3.3-times higher than that (190 HV) of the substrate. The coating shows a lower friction coefficient of 0.75 than that of the substrate (1.08). The wear rates of the substrate and the coating are 0.295 mg/min and 0.103 mg/min, respectively, indicating the coating exhibits excellent wear resistance. The wear mechanism transforms severe adhesive wear and abrasive wear of the substrate to slight abrasive wear of the coating. The results can provide technical support to improve the properties of the Fe-based laser cladded coating.

**Keywords:** Fe-based coating; laser cladding; transmission electron microscopy (TEM); microstructure; wear resistance
