Microstructure, Hardness and High-Temperature Corrosion Behaviors in Sulfur-Containing Environment of Laser Cladding Y2O3/IN625 Composite Coating

Water-cooled wall tubes are susceptible to high-temperature corrosion during service. Applying high-performance coatings via laser cladding on the tube surfaces can significantly enhance corrosion resistance and extend the service life of the tubes, providing substantial economic advantages. This paper prepared Y₂O₃/IN625 composite coating by means of high-speed laser cladding. Furthermore, the effects of Y₂O₃ addition on the microstructure evolution, hardness, as well as the high-temperature corrosion behaviors have been systematically investigated. The results show that Y₂O₃ addition can effectively refine the microstructure of the Inconel 625 coating, but the phase composition has little change. The coating's hardness can also be improved by about 7.7%, reaching about 300 HV. Compared to Inconel 625 coating, the Y₂O₃-added composited coating shows superior high-temperature corrosion resistance, with the corrosion mass gain decreased by about 36.6%. The denser and tightly bonded Cr-rich oxides layer can be formed adjacent to the coating surface, which plays a predominant role in improving the coating corrosion resistance.