IBP2372_17

®
LASER CLADDING OF INCONEL 625 FOR PIPELINE
PROTECTION – EXPLORATORY PARAMETRIZATION
Milton Pereira 1, Adriano de S. P. Pereira 2, Walter L. Weingaertner 3,
Regis H. G. e Silva 4, Jhonattan Gutjahr 5, Luiz E. Paes 6

Copyright 2017, Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute - IBP

This Technical Paper was prepared for presentation at the Rio Pipeline Conference & Exhibition 2017, held between October, 24-26,
2017, in Rio de Janeiro. This Technical Paper was selected for presentation by the Technical Committee of the event. The material as
it is presented, does not necessarily represent Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute’ opinion or that of its Members or
Representatives. Authors consent to the publication of this Technical Paper in the Rio Pipeline Conference & Exhibition 2017.

Abstract
Pipeline corrosion protection is a common concern while facing the complexity of sea oil extraction. The corrosion of
such parts has been mitigated by the application of alloys such as Inconel® 625. Be it as the constitution material, or in
the form of a protective layer, this alloy provides high corrosion-fatigue strength and resistance to corrosion cracking.
The process of laser cladding is proving itself as a ground-breaking tool on the metal deposition field, showing exceptional
layer quality results. This study intends to demonstrate the laser cladding of Inconel® 625 applied over a common pipeline
steel alloy, and present the outstanding results in chemical compositional and hardness achieved by this process. For such,
a ranged process parameter study was developed, aiming to achieve low dilution and higher process productivity. The
resultant track analysis and final layer results are presented together with their overall properties evaluation. Low dilution,
layer consistency and productivity optimization were observed. Laser cladding proves itself as highly valuable and
efficient process. Higher process productivities and the laser processes’ dissemination within the oil industry are expect
through the years to come.

1. Introduction
Laser Cladding is located among the laser additive manufacturing group, or LAM. This process has propelled a
series of developments and researches and, together with other LAM processes, has been caused a true revolution in the
manufacturing processes area. The concept of cladding can be extended to process with or without melting of the
substrate. For most laser cladding processes there is melting, usually with desired apparent dilution of 5 to 8% percent.
The low dilution is desired to maintain the deposited material’s (clad) chemical or mechanical properties.
The process in question consists in depositing material, normally metallic, along of a predefine trajectory while
consumable material and substrate and joined by the heat produced through a laser beam. This process main application
can be resumed into two needs, to add specific properties to material surface, or to repair on even fully manufacture –
layer by layer – a determined mechanical component (Kaierle et al., 2012; Poprawe, 2011). Over the second application,
the refurbishment of turbine blades is one of the approached subjects (Schweitzer, 2015). Between the advantages that
laser cladding has been showing, stand out (Poprawe, 2011):
a) Metallurgical interaction between the material deposited and substrate, in disparity with other coating
processes such as thermal aspersion etc.;
b) low porosity and metallurgical defects on cladded layers;
c) usually cladded layer thickness from 0,1 to 2 mm
d) minimal thermal deformation of work piece;
e) low dilution;
f) optimized processes provide unparalleled processing speeds.

______________________________
1
Dr. Eng., Mechanical Engineer – Laboratório de Mecânica de Precisão, UFSC
2
Eng., Materials Engineer – Laboratório de Mecânica de Precisão, UFSC
3
Dr. -Ing., Mechanical Engineer – Laboratório de Mecânica de Precisão, UFSC
4
Dr. Eng., Mechanical Engineer – LABSOLDA, UFSC
5
Msc. Eng, Mechatronics Engineer – LMP - Precision Engineering Laboratory, UFSC
6
Msc. Eng, Mechanical Engineer – LMP - Precision Engineering Laboratory, UFSC
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Figure 1 schematically illustrates the process’ operation principle. There are several system configurations that
may be considered laser cladding, allowing this process to bed fed by wire or powder. On this work’s ambit only the
process of wire laser cladding will be presented.

Figure 1. Wire laser Cladding Schematic (Khajepour, Toyserkani, & Corbin, 2004)

The wire diameter should be changed depending on laser power and optics available, other minor system
characteristics also influence over this variable. Different wire thicknesses are likely to result in different deposition
characteristics and process productivities. Using wire as consumable restricts the number of available alloys when
compared to powder laser cladding, however, most commonly used coating alloys are available for the former and wire
as consumable usually provides higher productivities (Ion, 2005).
Another restriction of wire laser cladding is its difficulty in processing tight geometries. This is due to the wire
consumable be provided from a coil and the wire having a limit bending angle, the cladding head tends to be of
considerable size. Specialized systems can overcome part of this complication, but not as effectively as a powder cladding
system. One last remark when comparing both consumable types is the safety aspect, wire laser cladding provides a
cleaner environment when processing toxic alloys, allowing less strict safety requirements (Poprawe, 2011). Typical
values for the main wire laser cladding parameters are presented below, on Table 1.

Table 1. Usual wire laser cladding parameters (Adapted from Poprawe, 2011)

Parameter Typical Values Units

Laser Power 200 – 4000 W
Laser Spot Diameter 0.6 – 8 mm
Cladding Speed 200 - 2000 mm/min
Feeding Rate 0.5 - 50 g/min
Shielding Gas He e Ar -
Gas Flux 5 – 20 L/min

On the coating application of wire laser cladding, the pipeline industry may take profit of its high productivity
and efficiency to coat its underwater supply lines or other metallic surface sensible to corrosion. This work focus is to
achieve a suitable Inconel 625® clad for such function. High optimization of parameters is not of this work`s concern, just
presentation of clad characteristics and basic process parametrization.

2. Experimental
The laser cladding head consists in three separated parts, all of them mounted on the Z-axis of an
orthogonal movement system. The sample moves along the X and Y axes to complete relative movement. The first part
of the cladding head has the optical system integrated, which is protected by an atmosphere-fed crossjet. The second is
the shielding gas nozzle, which protects the sample from oxidation, and the last is the wire feeding device. All three are
depicted on Figure 2.

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Figure 2. Wire cladding head used.

As wire feeding system a model STA20-2 from IMC Soldagem was used. This system is normally used together
with MIG welding systems, and as in matter of facts, the interface with the wire feeder is done through a MIG welding
system with its arc-welding procedures disabled. The wire was feed always at a constant 45º angle in relation to the laser
beam axis and its trajectory was coincident to the laser beam over the samples surface. Inconel 625 wire with commercial
name Sanicro 60, possessing a 1,14 mm in diameter was used. Its composition is listed on Table 2.

Table 2. Chemical composition of Inconel 625 equivalent wire consumable. (Teichmann, 2016)

Ni Cr Mo Nb Fe Si Mn C P S
≥60 22 9 3.5 ≤1 0.2 0.2 ≤0.03 ≤0.015 ≤0.010

The IPG – YLS 10000 fibre laser system was used. It provides a maximal laser power of 10 kW, which is focused,
throughout a 300 mm on a focal point with 880 µm in diameter. The laser system was set to work with a fraction of its
capacity, allowing beam stability until low laser power of 320 W.

2.1 Bead tests

The main objective for this experimentation phase was to determine a range of process parameters that are
adequate for processing. The characteristics required for the application of an ideal clad involve low dilution, pore absence
and adequate clad bead’s geometry for bead superposition. All tests were performed over ASTM A516 gr.70 plates with
20 mm in thickness, 250 mm in length and 200 mm wide. This material was chosen based on availability and similarity
to pipeline steels. Each parameter combination was executed as a 45 mm long clad bead. Distance between lines was
given to avoid influence from one clad bead to the others.
For the first group of tests, the parameters varied were laser power (PL), laser focus distance to substrate (Z) and
cladding speed (V). Wire feed rate was kept constant at 3,1 m/min, or 25 g/min as calculated. An argon flux with 15 l/min
was used as shielding gas. Table 3 lists the parameters values used on this test phase, all possible combinations between
those values were properly performed.

Table 3. Process parameters used in the line tests

Laser Power Z Cladding Speed

Clad bead Code
(W) (mm) (mm/min)
“Sample”.”Line” 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 15, 25, 35 1000, 2500, 4000

2.2 Overlapping
Overlapping consists on cladding lines in partial superposition to evenly cover a determined area. The distance
between lines is crucial for layer consistency and is of this test phase’s concern. The three cladding parameter
combinations that provided the best results had their overlapping distance studied. To provide comparability between

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attempts, overlapping distance was set as a percentage of the respective clad bead width; the values of 10%, 20% and
30% were used, the clad length remained the same as previous tests. Later, the area covered per hour, or in other words
the process productivity, was calculated for each of the layers that presented good constitution. Four clad beads were done
per overlapping test.

3. Results and Discussion

Visual observation and metallographical analysis were used to evaluate cladded layer integrity, porosity and
apparent dilution for lines or layers. Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) was used only to analyse if there is
still an abrupt interface delimiting the presence of nickel – between clad and substrate – and if it is correspondent with
the border observed through optical microscopy. Thus, confirming the proximity of values of apparent dilution and actual
dilution.

3.1 Line Results

The slowest lines performed with PL equal to 0.5 kW have not been able to deposit material to the substrate,
obviously due because of the lack of energy to melt the wire being fed. Further tests with this power setting were not done
since they were theoretically doomed to fail. Results with 0.5 kW are depicted on Figure 3.

Figure 3. Clad bead results achieved with the 0.5 kW power setting.

Raising laser power to 1 kW, material became to weld into the substrate, however, no constant clad bead was
achieved with this power setting. Thus, none of three final lines could have the 0.5 kW or 1.0 kW values for PL. The
power settings left, 1.5 kW and 2.0 kW, presented better results once they could produce constant clad tracks. Clad bead
results for other power setting rather than 0.5 kW, are illustrated on Figure 4. Note that only the centre of the lines is
being considered for evaluation, beginning and end of clad present inconstancy caused by delays present in the system
used to perform the tests. Further process automation can and will remove the recurrent start and end build-ups.

Figure 4. Clad bead results achieved with PL set to 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 kW.

The lines with these two last power settings moved to metallographical analysis. Clads denominated A.6, A.14
and A.22 where chosen to be used in the overlapping tests. It must be noted that all these lines had PL equal to 1.5 kW
and as faster the line, smaller is their respective Z. This is logical, since as faster the laser travels, faster the material must
be molten, thus the wire position must closer to the laser spot size; a point of greater energy concentration.
Other clad beads presented inferior results, no clad beads from the 2.0 kW power setting were chosen due to
high dilution or clad inconsistency. However, due to the aspect of the clads performed at 4000 mm/min, further testing
could be considered, by trying higher feeding rates to compensate the periodic deposition gaps. Parameter combination
A.7 is depicted, on Figure 5, as an example of clad with extremely high dilution, representing the results with 2.0 kW.
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Figure 5. Transversal section of parameter combination A.7, high dilution and penetration evident.

Below, Figure 6, are presented the tracks chosen for overlapping. All of them present dilution lower than 13%
percent, at different cladding speeds and distances to laser focus. Clad bead A.6 presented a slight misalignment of laser
beam and wire, evident by its melt pool’s deepest point being dislocated from the centre of the clad. This defect was
overlooked once the system would be adjusted at the overlapping tests and clad properties should not change significantly
by this correction. Bead edges, in most cases, were less diluted as bead centres. Wider laser spot sizes could even the
penetration through the bead cross section, thus further tests may consider higher focal values to adjust it. The current
bead geometry can be a factor in layer height variation, process outcome that can be seen in further topic.

Figure 6. From left to right, transversal section of parameter A.6, A.14 and A.22.

3.2 Overlapping
From all nine overlapping tests, the ones based on clad bead A.22 presented the best results. A clad layer with
no macropores, regular geometry, minimal layer thickness of 0,25 mm, reaching the productivity 0,25 m²/h was achieved
on clad C.9, presented on Figure 7. It is unintuitive that the thinner clad presented has the highest productivity, until the
speed that it was processed is considered. Clad bead A.22 is the one performed at 4000 mm/min, while the other are
processed at lower speeds. The lost in width is compensated by its cladding speed.

Figure 7. Best cladding results achieved. Clad layer C.6 an C.9 were produced with line parameter A.22, related
productivities are 0,29 m²/h and 0,25 m²/h, respectively.
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The other two parameter combinations presented pores within their overlapped lines, which damage layer
integrity and could hinder in-field inspection of pipeline clads. This is caused by lack of wetting or fusion and may be
solved by reducing even more the overlapping distance or raising the laser power. However, such adjustment would cause
considerable reduction on production, being, therefore, only of interest if higher or deeper depositions are intended,
respectively. On the following Figure 8, this problem is illustrated by the clad performed with clad bead A.6 at 30% of
overlapping. This layer result had a productivity of 0,11 m²/h, less than half of C.9’s area covered per hour.

Figure 8. Transversal metallography of clad layer C.4, porosity within lines evident.

Slight changes in bead dilution and geometry throughout the overlapped clad must be taken in account in further
experimentation. This phenomenon usually occurs due to substrate heating, which increases dilution, or due to the
presence of underlaid beads, which usually decreases dilution, both situation can be observed in the figures above. At any
case, further and finer parametrization can compensate such inconsistencies, certainly increasing deposition regularity.

3.3 Chemical Composition and Dilution

The EDS measurement of iron presence over a melt pool interface is depicted on Figure 9. The x-coordinate
advances into the substrate representing the line at which the analysis was made along.

Figure 9. On the left side, electron microscopy of analyzed clad. On the right side, a graphic represents the iron
presence taken form EDS analysis performed over clad A.22.

As it can be seen, there is a steep raise on iron presence at the demarked green line. Approximately 10 µm from
this limit is where the interface between what is considered to be the melt pools end on optical microscopy (OM) is.
Implying that there is a good approximation between apparent dilution and actual dilution, reinforcing the precision of
previous OM measurement. With the final beads’ OM-dilution values verified, and taking both deposition and substrate
chemical compositions in consideration, for the highest dilution bead a maximal iron content of 13.4 wt% can be
calculated. While for the lowest dilution clad bead, at 4%, an iron content of 4,8 wt% can be assumed.

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4. Conclusion
This work intent has been fulfilled, where the best result provided a 0.25 mm thick clad characterized by a
productivity of 0,25 m²/h. However, it was evidenced that the system was not pushed to its limits and higher productivities
can be expected. With the current configuration, different layer thicknesses possibly up to 0.5 mm could be performed.
However, to fulfil pipeline coating needs higher clads must be deposited, thus layer overlap or improved cladding system
configuration must be prospected. Higher clads, be them overlapped or not, will have lower iron contents, due to greater
ratios of deposited material volume per diluted substrate volume.
Metallurgical bonding was not brought to optimal point, but it was demonstrated possible to reduce dilution to
even lower values. EDS measurement proved good correlation between actual dilution value and apparent dilution taken
from optical microscopy. Statement that can ease further process parametrizations.
Reaching the production levels required on pipelines coatings was proven possible by wire laser cladding. There
are no process restrictions that could prevent its application on the inside or outside of pipelines. Further tests or more
complex cladding systems – e.g. doubled wire feeding system and optimized laser power distribution – could multiply
productivity by higher factors, turning it into extremely useful to for this industry’s branch.

5. Acknowlegements
The authors thank the support from the Laboratório de Mecância de Precisão (LMP – LASER) present at the
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) and the funding from the Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos (FINEP).

6. References
Ion, J. C., & Ion, J. C. (2005). Chapter 12 – Cladding. Laser Processing of Engineering Materials, 296–326.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-075066079-2/50015-5
Kaierle, S., Barroi, A., Noelke, C., Hermsdorf, J., Overmeyer, L., & Haferkamp, H. (2012). Review on Laser Deposition
Welding: From Micro to Macro. Physics Procedia, 39, 336–345. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phpro.2012.10.046
Khajepour, A., Toyserkani, E., & Corbin, S. (2004). Laser Cladding. (CRC, Ed.). CRC Press.
https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420039177
Poprawe, R. (2011). Tailored Light 2. (R. Poprawe, Ed.). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-01237-2
Schweitzer, L. (2015). Laser Cladding for Epitaxial Nickel Base Superalloys Turbine Blades.
Teichmann, E. W., Tubos, I. D. E., Aço, E. M., & Api, X. (2016). Análise De Variantes De Processos De Soldagem
Visando O Revestimento Com Inconel 625 De Tubos Em Aço Api X46.