Advances in research on the energy field assisted laser cladding technology

Laser cladding, as an important surface additive manufacturing technology, enables the fabrication of high-performance coatings. However, conventional laser cladding processes are often accompanied by rapid solidification of the molten pool, intense thermal cycling, and large temperature gradients, which can induce defects such as pores, cracks, microstructure coarsening, and residual stress accumulation, thereby limiting further improvements in coating performance. In recent years, energy field assisted laser cladding technologies have achieved active regulation of molten pool flow, solidification behavior, and stress evolution by introducing external energy fields, including ultrasonic vibration, electromagnetic field, magnetic field, electric field, thermal field, and multi energy field coupling. This review systematically summarizes the mechanisms and recent advances of different assisted energy fields in laser cladding, with particular emphasis on their effects on defect suppression, solidification control, property improvement, and residual stress regulation.Current studies have demonstrated that ultrasonic vibration and electromagnetic fields exhibit more significant advantages in grain refinement and microstructure homogenization. Ultrasonic assistance promotes heterogeneous nucleation through cavitation effects and acoustic streaming, leading to a substantial reduction in grain size. The electromagnetic field enhances molten pool convection through Lorentz forces and exhibits superior comprehensive regulation capability in improving element distribution, reducing residual stress, and suppressing crack formation. Magnetic field assisted laser cladding can effectively improve molten pool flow and microstructural uniformity; however, its regulation capability is limited by the magnetic response of materials and the effective range of magnetic field application. Although electric field assisted laser cladding provides advantages in electroplasticity-based regulation, it remains at an exploratory stage due to the unclear interaction mechanisms and parameter matching relationships. Thermal field assistance can reduce temperature gradients and alleviate thermal stress, but the associated grain coarsening effect restricts its overall strengthening capability. Compared with individual energy fields, ultrasonic–electromagnetic hybrid fields exhibit greater application potential in hardness enhancement, wear resistance improvement, and defect suppression owing to the synergistic effects of mechanical perturbation and electromagnetic driving.Overall, energy field assisted laser cladding has gradually evolved from single-property enhancement toward multi-physics synergistic regulation. Nevertheless, the unclear interaction mechanisms, parameter–response relationships, and equipment integration challenges of different energy fields still hinder their engineering applications. Future research should focus on establishing quantitative correlations among multi energy field parameters, molten pool behaviors, and coating properties, while developing intelligent process optimization strategies and modular equipment to promote the transition of this technology toward precise regulation and industrial implementation.