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.