Metal additive manufacturing repair study on rail steel with Stellite 6 powder

Abstract

Metal Additive Manufacturing repair study on rail steel with Stellite 6 powder is reported in this study. Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) process using Stellite 6 powder deposited on rail steel substrate was investigated for microhardness, wear and shear test properties. Microstructural analysis and microhardness measurements on cross-sectioned samples extracted from Stellite 6 clad on rail steel specimens show positive results. Wear testing was conducted using laboratory ball-on-disc tribometer tests on rail steel and Stellite 6 cladded disc specimens. The measured wear data and wear coefficients for Stellite 6 and rail steel were fitted to Archard's wear model. Shear testing was conducted to measure the clad/substrate shear strength as an indication of the metallurgical bond strength. The experimental study results demonstrate the potential use of metal additive repair method for rail steel applications. Development of a novel Portable Laser Metal Deposition System (PLMDS) will be presented as a potential metal additive manufacturing repair tool for on-site metal repair applications in the future.