Microstructual investigation of direct metal deposition of H13 steel on high strength copper substrate

This paper presents an investigation on the microstructure analysis of a bimetallic component consisting of the steel powder deposited on the solid copper substrate using laser cladding technology, Direct Metal Deposition (DMD). Study includes the variation of formation of microstructures of copper particles and porosity in the laser cladded structure at various thicknesses. Results obtained from the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) display a metallurgically sound and fully dense steel layer, where copper in rounded form was seen in the layer, which decreased with the increase of layer thickness. It is observed that porous holes also reduce with the increase of the thickness.