Overview on Hardfacing Processes, Materials and Applications

Hardfacing alloys are mainly obtained through atomization of powders and by determining of alloying elements in pure form or ferro alloys. They are widely used materials as weld overlay to improve wear and corrosion resistance in applications such as agricultural, construction, mining, etc. Wear is an important factor that controls life of any component. Different types of wear such as corrosion, impact, abrasion, metallic, etc are responsible for worn out of components. Many researches have been done to either reduce the wear or improve the wear resistant of the existing materials. Among these, hardfacing technique has made many developments since last few years. As in nuclear reactors, hardfacing of the grid plate through Laser cladding and Plasma Transferred arc welding, to improve the life of the components and resistance from wear and corrosion. Hardfacing involves applying a consumable material with desired wear properties over a soft base metal to enhance resistance to different wear mechanism. Using Calphad technique for development of desired composition and application of Schaffler diagram has been attempted successfully. In this paper a review of hardfacing processes and materials, highlighting the use of Laser cladding and Plasma transfer arc for overlaying hardfacing alloys has been attempted.