Effect of CeO(2) on Microstructure and Wear Resistance of TiC Bioinert Coatings on Ti6Al4V Alloy by Laser Cladding

To solve the lack of wear resistance of titanium alloys for use in biological applications, various prepared coatings on titanium alloys are often used as wear-resistant materials. In this paper, TiC bioinert coatings were fabricated on Ti6Al4V by laser cladding using mixed TiC and ZrO(2) powders as the basic pre-placed materials. A certain amount of CeO(2) powder was also added to the pre-placed powders to further improve the properties of the TiC coatings. The effects of CeO(2) additive on the phase constituents, microstructures and wear resistance of the TiC coatings were researched in detail. Although the effect of CeO(2) on the phase constituents of the coatings was slight, it had a significant effect on the microstructure and wear resistance of the coatings. The crystalline grains in the TiC coatings, observed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), were refined due to the effect of the CeO(2). With the increase of CeO(2) additive content in the pre-placed powders, finer and more compact dendrites led to improvement of the micro-hardness and wear resistance of the TiC coatings. Also, 5 wt % content of CeO(2) additive in the pre-placed powders was the best choice for improving the wear properties of the TiC coatings.