Study of residual stresses generated inside laser cladded plates using FEM and diffraction of synchrotron radiation

The stresses generated in the laser cladding technique result from the high thermal gradients involved. They could lead to undesirable distortions or even crack formation, therefore the prediction of the temperatures, strains and stresses during the process results in its better understanding, besides, it could allow some optimization. A transient nonlinear thermomechanical FEM model was developed for this task. In order to validate its predictions, measurements by the energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) technique were performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), for several samples with the Stellite 6B alloy on the AISI 304 stainless steel, and compared with the predictions.