Stainless steels are widely used in chemical and petrochemical industries for its superior corrosion resistance and superior strength. However, failure of materials due to wear and erosion are often encountered in practical applications. Laser composite surfacing is a recent surface engineering approach that aims to improve the wear resistance by reinforcing ceramic powders in molten metallic surface with a high power laser. In the present study, laser composite surfacing of AISI 304 stainless steel with SiC has been carried out by pre-deposition of SiC powders (thickness of 100 mm) on metallic substrate and subsequently, melting it using a 2 kW continuous wave CO₂ laser. The main process variables for this study were laser power, scan speed, particle chemistry and powder deposition rate. Following laser processing, a detailed microstructural investigation was undertaken (using optical and scanning electron microscope) to study the influence of laser parameters on the thickness of the composite layer, volume fraction of the particles and its distribution with depth. The average microhardness of the surface layer and its variation with depth was measured using a Vickers microhardness tester with 25 g applied load and correlated with laser parameters. The wear resistance of the composite surfaced Al were evaluated using a pin-on-disc wear-testing machine with 1 kg applied load against diamond indenter. The kinetics of wear was evaluated by measuring the weight loss due to wear at regular interval. Finally, the corrosion behavior of composite surfaced layer has been compared with that of as-received one in a 3.56 wt.% NaCl solution using a standard potentiodynamic polarization study. A superior microhardness and wear resistance was achieved in laser composite surfaced 304 stainless steel with negligible deterioration of corrosion property.

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