Laser induced breakdown spectrometry for elemental mapping of wear resistant coatings synthesized by laser cladding

Abstract

Three dimensional multielemental mapping of composite wear resistant by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy has been demonstrated for the first time. Individual clads of 1560 nickel alloy reinforced with tungsten carbide were synthesized by co-axial laser cladding technique. Electron energy X-ray dispersive spectroscopy revealed elemental maps for major elements (W, Ni, Co, Cr, Fe, Si) but failed to measure carbon. Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy was utilized for elemental mapping of carbon and all other elements under interest. It was demonstrated that for depths beyond few microns three dimensional elemental profiling requires substantial laser spot overlapping in order to achieve ±2 μm accuracy of depth measurements. Elemental maps for nickel, tungsten and carbon were quantified for 900x900x45 μm volume with 30 μm lateral and 4 μm depth resolution in case of tungsten carbide particles in nickel alloy.