CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

Laser cladding process is spreading across the industry as a valuable resource for repairing mechanical components that are subjected to significant surface wear. When compared to conventional welding or metal spraying techniques, laser cladding surpasses the former with a lower amount of heat input, minimal dilution, and with a metallurgical bond as a result. However, the influence of the cladding process on the fatigue life of repaired components is still poorly analysed and documented. In this paper, the effect of laser cladding on the fatigue life of a 70 mm diameter component of wrought quenched and tempered AISI-SAE 4140H is assessed, along with full characterization of defects, hardness and residual stress distributions. Additionally, a theoretical fatigue crack propagation prediction model based on a fracture mechanics approach is demonstrated to provide significative estimated fatigue lives, and shows how the most influential process variables affect these results.