Multiphase Model of Heat and Mass Transport during Laser Alloying of Iron with Electrodeposited Chromium Layer

The aim of this research was to study the laser alloying process of iron with chromium. In the paper, a multiphase model of mass and heat transfer for the laser alloying is presented. Laser melting of the chromium layer and the substrate was performed using a continuous laser source operated with a TEM10 mode, with constant beam diameter (φ), scanning velocity (V) and varied output beam power. The partial differential equations of the conservation of mass, momentum and energy in the melted pool for multiphase system were solved. The distribution of chromium in iron after laser alloying was obtained by including the Volume of Fluid algorithm in the model. The results of the computations were compared with the experimental evaluation of the microstructure and the chromium concentration, which were based on scanning electron microscopy and x-ray microanalysis (Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy) of the laser alloyed layers. The comparison of computational calculations and experimental results is presented and a good accuracy of the proposed model is shown