Effect of Cooling Method on Formability of Laser Cladding IN718 Alloy

The finite element model (FE) of temperature field of straight thin-walled samples in laser cladding IN718 was established, and the growth of microstructure was simulated by cellular automata (CA) method through macro-micro coupling (CA-FE). The effects of different cooling conditions on microstructure, hardness, and properties of laser-cladding layer were studied by designing cooling device. The results show that the simulation results are in good agreement with the microstructure of the cladding layer observed by the experiment. With the scanning strategy of reducing laser power layer-by-layer, the addition of water cooling device and the processing condition of 0.7 mm Z-axis lift, excellent thin-walled parts can be obtained. With the increase of cladding layers, the pool volume increases, the temperature value increases, the temperature gradient, cooling rate, solidification rate, K value gradually decrease, and eventually tend to be stable, in addition, the hardness shows a fluctuating downward trend. Under the processing conditions of layer-by-layer power reduction and water cooling device, the primary dendrite arm spacing reduced to about 8.3 μm, and the average hardness at the bottom of cladding layer increased from 260 HV to 288 HV. The yield strength and tensile strength of the tensile parts prepared under forced water cooling increased to a certain extent, while the elongation slightly decreased.