Laser cladding using flexible cord of hardfacing material with diamond

摘要

A method of hardfacing a component includes generating a laser beam and directing the laser beam to an area of a wear surface of the component. The method includes feeding a flexible cord of a cladding material into the laser beam to melt the flexible cord and produce a bead of the cladding material on the wear surface. The flexible cord includes an inner metal wire surrounded by an agglomerate of abrasion and wear-resistant material that contains diamond particles. The method further includes moving the laser beam and the flexible cord along the wear surface to produce a cladding layer over the wear surface of the component.