Development of a Laser Cladding Process for Shrouded Turbine Blades

A laser cladding process has been successfully developed, qualified and implemented into production for hardfacing shrouded turbine engine blades. These nickel base superalloy hot section blades were hardfaced with a cobalt base filler metal. The process, employing dynamic powder feeding as a means of introducing filler metal to the substrate, offers significant advantages over conventional welding processes including: low heat input, limited dilution, improved metallurgical quality and uniform, near-net-shape build-ups.