Additive Repair & Surface Hardfacing, Coaxial Laser Cladding / DED Dilution & Catchment
Laser Cladding Dilution Ratio & Powder Catchment Formula
Calculate Metallographic Clad Dilution Ratio (%), Deposited Alloy Mass Rate (g/min), Coaxial Powder Catchment Efficiency (%), and Specific Laser Energy (J/mm²).
Turn up laser power to "fuse better" during Inconel 625 cladding and 35% iron dilution ruins offshore subsea corrosion resistance!
**Coaxial Blown-Powder Laser Cladding (`Directed Energy Deposition DED`)** blows Stellite 6, WC-Co, or Inconel 625 superalloy powder (`Mass Feed Rate dot_m_{feed}` g/min, `Alloy Density rho` g/cm³) into a laser melt pool (`Power P` W, `Spot Diameter D` mm, `Traverse Speed v` mm/s) to armor carbon-steel oilfield valves and turbine blades. Transverse metallographic cross-sections separate **Reinforcement Clad Area Above Original Surface `A_{clad}`** (`mm²`) from **Melted Substrate Penetration Area `A_{melt}`** (`mm²`), defining **Geometrical Dilution `D% = (A_{melt} / (A_{clad} + A_{melt})) * 100%`** (`ISO 15614-7` / `API 6A CRA` qualification demands **`3% <= D% <= 12%`**—below `3%` risks lack-of-fusion peeling; above `15%` poisons the Inconel/Stellite overlay with dissolved substrate iron!), while **Deposited Rate `dot_m_{dep} = ((A_{clad} * v * 60) / 1,000) * rho`** (`g/min`) measures **Powder Catchment Efficiency `eta_p% = (dot_m_{dep} / dot_m_{feed}) * 100%`** and **Specific Energy `E_s = P / (D * v)`** (`J/mm²`)!
Verify on an API 6A Inconel 625 (`rho = 8.44` g/cm³) Subsea Valve Bore Clad—Above-Surface_Clad_Area `A_{clad}` = 2.85 mm² (B2), Substrate_Melt_Area `A_{melt}` = 0.30 mm² (B3), CNC_Traverse_Speed `v` = 14.0 mm/s (B4), Powder_Feeder_Rate `dot_m_{feed}` = 24.0 g/min (B5), Inconel_Density `rho` = 8.44 g/cm³ (B6), Fiber_Laser_Power `P` = 1,800 W (B7), and Spot_Size `D` = 3.20 mm (B8): Dilution hits the sweet spot at `9.52%` (`<= 10%` Fe limit! E2), Deposited Alloy equals `20.21` g/min (E3 = `84.2%` powder catchment in E4), and Specific Energy equals `40.18` J/mm² (E5)!
| ISO 15614-7 Laser Cladding KPI (Inconel 8.44 g/cm³, 24 g/min, D=3.2 mm) | Formula | Verified Output |
|---|---|---|
| Metallographic Dilution D (%) | (Melt_Area_mm2 / (Clad_mm2 + Melt_mm2)) * 100 | 9.52% (35.38% IRON CONTAMINATION @ 2.6 kW!) |
| Deposited Clad Rate (g/min) | ((Clad_Area_mm2 * v_mm_s * 60) / 1000) * rho | 20.21 g/min (8.51 g/min @ slow 8 mm/s) |
| Powder Catchment Eff (%) | (Deposited_g_min / Powder_Feed_g_min) * 100 | 84.2% (35.4% ricochet waste @ 2.6 kW) |
| Specific Laser Energy (J/mm²) | Laser_Power_W / (Spot_Diam_mm * v_mm_s) | 40.18 J/mm² (101.56 J/mm² over-melted!) |
DED Metallographic Dilution, Mass Deposition & Specific Laser Fluence Formula
Validate `Clad_Area A_{clad} > 0.05` mm², `Melt_Area A_{melt} >= 0`, `Traverse v > 0.5` mm/s, `Powder_Feed > 0.5` g/min, `Density` in `[2.0, 20.0]` g/cm³, `Power P > 50` W, `Spot D > 0.2` mm, and physical `Deposited_Rate <= Powder_Feed`!
=LET(ac_m, B2, am_m, B3, vs_m, B4, mf_g, B5, rc_g, B6, pl_w, B7, ds_m, B8, md_g, ((ac_m * vs_m * 60) / 1000) * rc_g, IF(OR(ac_m <= 0.05, am_m < 0, vs_m <= 0.5, mf_g <= 0.5, rc_g < 2, rc_g > 20, pl_w <= 50, ds_m <= 0.2, md_g > mf_g), "Invalid Cladding Input", ROUND(pl_w / (ds_m * vs_m), 2)))Over-Powered 2,600 W / 8 mm/s Iron-Dilution Reject Check
Boost power to `2,600` W and slow travel to `8.0` mm/s (`B2 = 2.10`, `B3 = 1.15`, `B4 = 8`, `B7 = 2600`): Specific Energy E5 jumps `2.5x` to `101.56` J/mm², digging deep into the carbon-steel base metal and driving Dilution E2 to **`35.38%`**—failing API 6A Fe5 spectroscopy and causing hot solidification cracking!
=IF(ISTEXT(E5), E5, ROUND((B3 / (B2 + B3)) * 100, 2))Try the example
Use the original values or change them to test your understanding.