Modeling and simulation of grinding surface morphology for laser cladding in situ TiC reinforced Ni-based composite coatings

Laser cladding TiC reinforced composite coatings have been widely applied to the surface strengthening or remanufacturing of critical components. However, due to the sharp transition in the melt pool and the layer-by-layer deposition properties, achieving high surface quality often necessitates secondary mechanical processing. Furthermore, because of the heterogeneous interfacial properties of composite coatings and the random distribution of TiC particles, the material removal mode at a certain position is critical to predicting the grinding surface. Therefore, this paper studies the material removal mechanism and grinding surface generation for laser cladding TiC-reinforced Ni-based composite coatings. Firstly, a mathematical model of the particle distribution was developed. Secondly, the differences in the microscopic contact state between cubic boron nitride and the composite coatings were analyzed, leading to the formulation of a predictive model for the scratching behavior of a single abrasive. Finally, the grinding surface of the composite coating was simulated and experimentally verified. The results demonstrate a strong correlation between the simulated and experimental results in both edge and center regions across a wide range of processing parameters. The maximum errors observed were only 3.298 % for surface roughness and −5.503 % for percentage distribution. The enhanced quality of the grinding surface can be attributed to the reduction in the thickness of the undeformed cutting layer and the greater cut-off removal of ceramic particles. • A model for grinding removal of heterogeneous materials from laser cladding TiC reinforced composite coatings is proposed. • The spatial distribution model of in situ TiC particles in the composite coating is developed based on image recognition technology. • The maximum error between the simulated and experimented ground surface morphologies of the laser cladding composite coating is less than 6%.