Figure 1 Schematic of the Laser Process
After coating, the samples were sectioned into smaller pieces with a
cutting blade machine and the cross-sections of the sample were prepared
using standard metallographic procedures namely mounting, grinding (
grit sizes 80, 320 and 1200) , polishing (Tripoli, intermediates and
finishing rouge) and etching with aqua regia.
Characterization Techniques
The characterizations of the samples were achieved using an Olympus
BX51M light optical microscope (OM), XPERT-PRO X-ray
diffraction system (XRD), JEOL-JSM-6010/LA Plus) Scanning electron
microscope (SEM) equipped with an Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS).
The geometry of the coatings namely: bead height, bead width and melt
pool depth were also observed using the optical microscope as shown in
Figure 2.