Comparative study between powder feeding and wire feeding laser additive repairing of V-groove with Inconel 718 alloy

Laser cladding technology has been widely used in additive repairing of key components, and powder feeding and wire feeding are the main methods used during this process. In this study, laser additive repairing of V-groove with Inconel 718 powder and wire were conducted to study how they would affect the repairing quality of the superalloy . Numerical simulation and experiments were carried out to compare the effects of powder and wire feeding methods on the V-groove temperature field, molten pool profile, macroscopic morphology and microstructure of the repaired zone during laser repairing. The results indicate that powder and wire feeding methods affect the absorption of laser energy by V-grooves and molten pools. During the powder feeding repairing, the temperature is higher at the bottom of the V-groove, resulting in a 45.5% increase in the melt depth of the repair zone. Powders in state of solid and semisolid were sprayed onto the molten pool , resulting in a coarser surface in the repairing zone. In addition, the grain size in the repaired zone grows gradually as the depth decreases , and the difference in grain orientation in the center of the repaired zone is also significant.