Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Materials Science & Engineering A

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/msea

Effect of laser clad repair on the fatigue behaviour of ultra-high

strength AISI 4340 steel
Shi Da Sun a,c,n, Qianchu Liu b,c, Milan Brandt a,c, Vladimir Luzin d, Ryan Cottam c,e,
Madabhushi Janardhana f, Graham Clark a
a

School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
Aerospace Division, Defence Science & Technology Organisation (DSTO), Fishermans Bend, VIC 3207, Australia
c
Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC), Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
d
Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organisation (ANSTO), Lucas Heights, NSW 2232, Australia
e
Industrial Research Institute Swinburne (IRIS), Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
f
Aircraft Structural Integrity Section, Directorate General Technical Airworthiness (DGTA), RAAF, Laverton, VIC 3027, Australia
b

art ic l e i nf o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 10 December 2013
Received in revised form
20 March 2014
Accepted 21 March 2014
Available online 28 March 2014

The fatigue behaviour of an ultra-high strength steel ( 41800 MPa) was evaluated to assess the potential
of using laser cladding as a repair tool for such steels in aeronautical structural applications. AISI 4340
and AerMet 100 steel powder were used to clad over a grind-out region in an AISI 4340 steel substrate
using a 2.5 kW ND:YAG laser. Post-clad heat treatment (PCHT) was also investigated. Results showed
very poor tensile properties and signicantly reduced fatigue life of the AISI 4340 as-clad with a very
high hardness and brittle fracture in the clad and HAZ zone. Residual stress results showed a
compressive residual stress in the clad region and tensile residual stress in the HAZ. Changing the alloy
of the clad layer to AerMet 100 steel, as well as applying a PCHT process, showed promising results as the
fatigue life was improved from that of the grind-out substrate.
& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
AISI 4340 steel
AerMet 100 steel
Laser cladding
Residual stress
Fatigue behaviour

1. Introduction
Ultra-high strength steels such as AISI 4340 and AerMet 100
are materials used widely in modern aircraft structure, particularly
in critical applications such as undercarriages. However, they are
highly sensitive to damage caused by corrosion, fatigue, stress
corrosion cracking, and in some of these applications, to impact
damage from foreign objects. High strength steels achieve their
strength at the expense of toughness, and as a result, any damage
which promotes crack development and propagation increases the
risk of unpredicted catastrophic failure. Discovering even the
smallest cracks (in the sub-millimetre scale) will usually require
some attention, since the components are usually managed on a
safe-life (no detectable cracks) basis. Grind-out is a technique
traditionally used to remove the damage. However, aircraft components are geometrically optimised, leaving very little material to
safely grind-out. This method is viable only if the grind-out does
not exceed the dimensional limits. Exceeding such limits would
n
Corresponding author at :School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering, Advance Manufacturing Precinct, RMIT University, Bldg 55, Level 4, 58
Cardigan Street, Carlton, VIC 3053, Australia. Tel.: 61 3 9925 4071.
E-mail address: stephen.sun@student.rmit.edu.au (S.D. Sun).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2014.03.077
0921-5093/& 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

lead to replacement of the component, resulting in high cost and

reduced availability. One attractive method of repair is to use laser
cladding to rebuild material in a grind-out, which has exceeded
the permissible limit, to restore the mechanical properties, especially fatigue life, back to a minimum safety level.
Laser cladding technology uses a laser to melt and fuse a metal
alloy powder, with similar or enhanced properties to the application, onto a substrate [1,2]. Other possible repair methods include
cold spray, traditional arc welding, and plasma spray [3]. However
laser cladding has received much more focus as a repair method
due to low heat input, strong fusion bond between the added
metal and the base material, and its ability to produce very little
distortion and micro-cracking [2]. Traditional repair methods such
as argon-arc welding usually produce deep heat-affected zones
(HAZ), visible deformation, and are highly susceptible to hydrogen
cracking [1]. Another major advantage of laser cladding is that the
powder alloy can be optimised by changing the alloying composition of the powder to optimise the mechanical properties. Laser
cladding is particularly suitable for aerospace components because
they deal with larger, complex shaped components, and will offer
major cost savings if the process is successful. However, repairing
aero-grade high strength steel is particularly difcult since it deals
with high structural loadings, fatigue critical components and a

S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

47

Table 1
Chemical compositions (wt%) of the AISI 4340 base material and AISI 4340 and erMet 100 powders, as provided by supplier.

AISI 4340 steel substrate

AISI 4340 steel powder
AerMet 100 steel powder

Mn

Ni

Cr

Si

Mo

Fe

Co

0.41
0.4
0.25

0.7
0.7
0.63

1.74
1.69
11.2

o0.02
o0.02

0.77
0.72
3.1

0.24
0.2
0.64

0.25
0.28
1.28

0.046
0.05

Bal.
Bal.
Bal.

14.0

Fig. 1. Schematic representation of the experimental procedure for the mechanical testing of AISI 4340 steel: (a) 0.7 mm grind-out depth along the direction of rolling,
(b) multi-track cladding using the optimum processing parameters to ll the grind-out area, (c) excess clad layer removed by a CNC machine for a at surface nish and
(d) individual dog-bone specimens machined by wire-cutting.

need for damage tolerance. A repair by rebuilding material to

restore strength which would allow parts to remain in service, and
thus may reduce operating costs, will only be possible if it does not
increase the risk of cracking and degraded mechanical properties.
This research evaluates the mechanical properties of laser
cladding repair of ultra-high strength, in an attempt to restore
and possibly increase the fatigue properties above the un-repaired
case. The mechanical properties of AISI 4340 steel have been well
documented [46] and a number of publications have reported on
the mechanical properties of surface melting of AISI 4340 steel
[7,8], where it has been demonstrated that the so-called HAZ does
not have an adverse effect on the fatigue properties of AISI 4340
steel [8]. For laser cladding repair applications, most literature has
focused on the repair of secondary components [9,10], where
geometry restoration and restoring surface properties, such as
wear and erosion properties, are the major concern. Few publications have reported on the mechanical properties of the repair of
primary fatigue critical components [11,12], and microstructure
evolution on laser cladding of ultra-high strength AISI 4340 steel
[13,14]. However, none have been published on the mechanical
properties and fatigue behaviour of laser cladding repair in ultrahigh strength steel aeronautical structural applications, where the
substrate strength is greater than 1800 MPa.
This paper focuses on the mechanical properties of laser
cladding using quench and temper aero-grade AISI 4340 steel
substrate. Two different alloy powders are used and a post-heat
treatment process is investigated. Microstructure and microhardness evolution, static properties, fatigue SN curve, fracture
behaviour, and residual stress properties were analysed and
reported. This study provides essential results on the overall
potential of laser cladding as a future repair solution for aircraft
landing gear.

2. Experimental setup
2.1. Material preparation
AISI 4340 steel plates of dimension 200 mm  160 mm  7 mm
(composition shown in Table 1) were supplied in annealed condition. The plates were then hardened by heating to 850 1C for 1 h,
followed by oil quench, and nally tempered at 220 1C for 4 h, in
accordance with AMS standard 2759/2 F [15], to achieve a
representative in-service hardness level of 5355 HRC. The microstructure is ne tempered martensite. AISI 4340 and AerMet 100
powders were supplied by Sandvik Osprey Ltd. in the form of gas
atomised spherical particles (composition shown in Table 1), with
a particle diameter in the range of 45106 mm. A representative
in-service grind-out was applied on each plate using a CNC mill.
The grind-out depth was 10% of the thickness (0.7 mm 70.05 mm)
with a width of 10.0 mm (Fig. 1a). A variation in grind-out depth is
expected due to distortion of the plate.
2.2. Laser cladding
A bre-coupled Ron Sinar CW025 Nd:YAG laser and a sideinjecting powder delivery nozzle were used for the cladding
process. The laser optics comprised a 200 mm collimation lens
and a 200 focusing lens located 204 mm from the substrate
surface, producing a laser spot of about 2.5 mm. The laser spot
of 2.5 mm was measured by a beam analyser corresponding to the
diameter of the Gaussian prole. The powder delivery nozzle
diameter was 2 mm and it was located 11 mm from the substrate
surface at an angle of 251 from the normal. Argon was used as both
the carrier and shielding gas at a ow of 15 L/min. The laser
processing parameters used in this experiment are shown in

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S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

Table 2. The laser clad heat input was approximately 75 J/mm. The
approximate track length was 19 mm and a total of 150 overlapping clad tracks were required to ll the grind-out area
(Fig. 1b). The overlapping track width was 1.0 mm. The top surface
of the clad was removed by an Elliott 921 magnetic grinding
machine equipped with an aluminium oxide abrasives wheel to
ensure the test section of the plate was completely at (Fig. 1c).
Finally, each plate was wire-cut into four dog-bone specimens for
tensile and fatigue testing (Fig. 1d). For a consistent surface nish
across the specimen, the surface of the test section of all specimens was machined by removing approximately 510 mm off both
sides of the specimen using an Elliott 921 magnetic grinding
machine with a ne grade of 125220 mm grit size. The approximate surface roughness values (measured in the longitudinal
direction across the test section) were RA 0.2 mm and RZ 2.0 mm.
In this study, a total of four variables were tested, as shown in
Fig. 2. A traditional post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), also known
as stress relieving heat treatment, was not used since the tempering would also signicantly reduce the high substrate hardness
and strength of the substrate. The post-clad heat treatment (PCHT)
process of the clad plates was used in this study. The PCHT process
was performed in accordance with AMS standard 2759/2F [15] of
annealing, hardening and tempering: annealing at 830 1C for 1 h
followed by slow cooling, then hardening by heating to 850 1C for
1 h, followed by oil quenching, and nally tempering at 220 1C for
4 h.
2.3. Experimental procedures
The clad specimens were cross-sectioned using a diamond saw
and then hot mounted in epoxy. A 250, 400, 600, 800, and 1200
grit size was used to grind each sample. An applied force of 150 N
and 1030 s was used on each grinding stage. A 9, 3, 1, and 0.25
diamond paste was used to polish each sample. An applied force of

Table 2
Laser processing parameters used for the laser cladding experiment.
Laser
power
(kW)

Powder ow
rate (g/min)

Laser traverse
speed (mm/min)

Laser spot
size (mm)

Overlap
width (mm)

1.25

12.5

1000

2.5

1.0

150 N and 1520 min was used on each polishing stage. Finally, a
2% Nital solution was used to reveal the microstructure of AISI
4340 and 10 mL HNO3 20 mL HCl 30 mL H20 solution was used
to reveal the microstructure of AerMet 100, in accordance with
standard ASTM procedure E407. Microscopic examination was
conducted using a Leica MEF3 optical microscope.
Microhardness measurements were performed using a LECO
LM700AT micro-hardness tester. For each indent, an applied load
of 300 gf was held for 15 s, in accordance with standard ASTM
standard E384. For comparison, the hardness of the substrate (AISI
4340) was also measured. Composition analysis was performed
using a XL30 Scanning Electron Microscope equipped with EDAXs
(Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy).
Cladding of residual stress samples was performed using the
same processing parameters as the ones used for the mechanical
test plates, to achieve clad dimensions of 30 mm wide and 30 mm
long. Residual stress proles were measured using a residual stress
diffractometer. A wavelength of 1.67 and a diffraction from Fe
{211} reection were used for the monochromatic neutron beam
resulting in a scattering angle of (2) approximately 901. A gauge
volume of 0.5  0.5  20 mm3 was used for the neutron strain
measurements. Fourteen depth points were measured for each of
the four variables in the vertical direction through the clad, heat
affected region, and substrate at a spacing of 0.5 mm for a total
distance of 7.0 mm. Each of the fourteen depth points were
measured in three principal directions (two in-plane directions
and one normal to the surface).
Axial tension testing was performed using a 250 kN MTS
testing machine using a strain rate of 1.0 mm/min, in accordance
with ASTM standard 8M (dimensions shown in Fig. 3a). Strain was
measured using a 25 mm MTS extensometer. Four specimens were
tested for each variable. For comparison, the tensile properties of
both the substrate (AISI 4340) and substrate with a grind-out were
also tested.
Axial constant amplitude fatigue testing was performed using a
100 kN MTS testing machine using an R ratio of 0.1 and test
frequency of 10 Hz, in accordance with ASTM standard E466
(dimensions shown in Fig. 3b). Testing was performed at room
temperature. For each variable, three to four specimens were
tested over four different stress levels to produce a preliminary
fatigue life curve, in accordance with ASTM standard E739. For
comparison, the fatigue life of both the substrate and substrate
with a grind-out were also tested. Fracture surface images were
obtained using a Phillips XL30 Scanning Electron Microscope.

Fig. 2. Schematic representation of the cross-section view of the fatigue dog-bone specimens and showing the four variables used in this study: (a) AISI 4340 as-clad,
(b) AerMet 100 as-clad, (c) AISI 4340 as-clad PCHT and (d) AerMet 100 as-clad PCHT.

S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

49

Fig. 3. Top view and dimensions of the dog-bone specimens where the shaded area represents the clad: (a) tensile specimen and (b) fatigue specimen.

Fig. 4. Micrographs of the clad layers: (a) AISI 4340 as-clad etched with 2% Nital solution, (b) AerMet 100 as-clad etched with HNO3HClH20 solution, (c) AISI 4340 asclad PCHT etched with 2% Nital solution and (d) AerMet 100 as-clad PCHT etched with HNO3HClH20 solution.

3. Results
3.1. Microstructure
Fig. 4a and b shows that the AISI 4340 and AerMet 100 clad
layer consists of ne columnar and cellular grains where the

growth is in the direction of solidication. The formation of clad

microstructure is a typical columnar prior austenite grain structure
due to solid state transformation, similar to steel cast structure,
and is well documented in welding applications [16]. The appearance of the columnar and cellular grains varies across the clad
layer caused by the varying temperature gradients that generally

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S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

Fig. 5. Micrographs of AISI 4340 HAZ etched with 2% Nital solution: (a) clad interface, (b) HAZ 0.1 mm below the clad interface, (c) HAZ 0.6 mm below the clad interface and
(d) HAZ interface.

exist across the solidifying structure resulting in the formation of

different sized columnar and cellular grains [16]. Fig. 4c and d
shows the microstructure of AISI 4340 and AerMet 100 clad layer
after PCHT (850 1C oil quench and 220 1C temper). The microstructure in AISI 4340 as-clad after PCHT was uniform across the
specimen and consisted of ne tempered lath martensite (Fig. 4c).
The microstructure in AerMet 100 as-clad after PCHT consisted of a
coarsened columnar and cellular grain structure in the clad region
(Fig. 4d).
Fig. 5a shows the clad interface region where the microstructure changes from solidication structure to AISI 4340 HAZ. The
clad interface region shows a good metallurgical bond. Fig. 5b
shows the HAZ adjacent to the clad interface where the microstructure primarily consisted of coarsened lath martensite. The
microstructure becomes ner further away from the clad interface,
as shown in Fig. 5c. The coarsening was due to the high austenitising temperature adjacent to the clad interface, causing micro-alloy
precipitates to dissolve, and unpinning of austenite grain boundaries is expected with substantial growth of prior austenite grains
[17]. In Fig. 5d, the white etched region represents the HAZ where
partial austenitising occurs, while the darker etched region represents the over-tempered zone of the substrate. The HAZ interface
is a good indication when the heating temperature drops below
the critical Ac1 temperature (727 1C).
3.2. Microhardness
Fig. 6 shows the comparison of vertical microhardness prole
of a cross-sectioned sample for all variables tested. In Fig. 4a, for
the AISI 4340 as-clad, the region AB, clad layer, shows that the
hardness of the clad was approximately 650 Hv which was 3040%
higher than the substrate material (580 Hv). The high hardness in
the clad layer is attributed to the hard and brittle properties of
martensite formed at rapid cooling rates. The region BC, HAZ,
shows the hardness sharply increased from 600 Hv to 720 Hv over
a distance of 1.5 mm. The increased hardness is due to the rapid

Fig. 6. Vertical microhardness prole, measured relative to the clad interface:

(a) as-clad condition and (b) PCHT condition.

S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

self-quenching from austenite to martensite caused by the heat

sink into the substrate material [7,8,18]. A similar microhardness
trend in the HAZ was observed in laser melting applications of AISI
4340 steel [8]. At point C, the interface between the HAZ and the
substrate, the hardness decreased sharply from 720 Hv to 380 Hv,
which was a result of heating temperature not achieving the
critical Ac1 temperature, indicating no austenitising had occurred.
The region CD, the part of the substrate, is known as the overtempered zone in welding applications. Overall, this region was
soft and its hardness relatively lower compared to the original
substrate. The cause of the softening is due to tempering, where
the carbon atoms diffuse from martensite in the substrate, to form
a carbide precipitate resulting in the formation of ferrite and
coarsened cementite [16]. However, within the region CD the
hardness was increased from 360 Hv at point C to 500525 Hv at
point D, bottom of the substrate material, slightly lower than the
substrate hardness of 580 Hv. The result suggests that the substrate material was overheated, causing an overextended tempering zone. The overheating can be avoided by increasing the
substrate thickness and further reducing the heat input.
Fig. 6a shows the clad hardness prole of the AerMet 100 asclad was approximately 560580 Hv, which was 20% softer than
the AISI 4340 as-clad. The difference in hardness of the two clads
is attributed to the variation of composition, especially the
reduced carbon content.
Fig. 6b also shows the hardness of AISI 4340 as-clad PCHT,
where the hardness was consistent across the clad, HAZ, and overtempered zone, at approximately 630 Hv, except for the clad layer,
where the average hardness is about 580 Hv. The reason is mainly
due to a controlled heat treatment applied across the material. The
average hardness was also 10% higher than the original substrate.
Fig. 6b also shows the hardness prole of AerMet 100 asclad PCHT was consistently 630 Hv across the HAZ and overtempered zone. The average hardness of the AerMet 100 clad layer
after PCHT was 550 Hv.
Fig. 7 shows the EDAXs composition analysis for the two clads
and substrate. Fig. 7a shows the alloying elements of chromium
and nickel were 0.35% and 1.0% higher, respectively, in the AISI
4340 clad, compared to the measured composition of AISI 4340
substrate and the composition provided by the supplier (Table 1).
A similar result was observed in Direct Metal Deposition application of AISI 4340 steel [13]. The composition of the clad is expected
to be different since a percentage of iron, alloying elements, and
possibly carbon will evaporate due to extremely high heating
temperatures during the cladding process [13]. Fig. 7b shows the
composition analysis of AerMet 100 clad with a slightly higher
nickel and cobalt, as compared to the composition provided by the
supplier (Table 1).
3.3. Residual stresses
Residual stresses play a very important role in structural
components because these stresses can affect the fatigue and
fracture behaviour. High tensile residual stresses can promote
premature failure (sometimes internally) and compressive residual stresses can delay failure, resisting crack opening [19]. The
residual stress as a function of depth was measured, as shown in
Fig. 8. Since the substrate is rectangular and bi-axial in the
prepared samples, the stresses in the two in-plane directions are
similar and therefore only one principal stress result is shown.
Fig. 8a shows, for both the AISI 4340 and AerMet 100 as-clads, the
residual stress variations were similar. A compressive residual
stress between 200 and 400 MPa is produced in the clad region
and a sharp translation into tension residual stress occurs at the
interface between the clad and the HAZ. The compressive residual
stress produced in the clad layer is caused by thermal shrinkage,

51

Fig. 7. EDAXs composition analysis: (a) AISI 4340 clad and substrate and
(b) AerMet 100 clad.

thermal expansioncontraction, and displacive phase transformation of austenite to martensite [20,21]. A maximum tensile
residual stress of 630 MPa (40% of the yield strength) is observed
in the HAZ at approximately 0.51.0 mm below the clad interface.
The residual stress decreases linearly with increasing distance for
the remainder of the substrate, as would be expected as the
material is further from the expanded clad material causing the
stress. The tensile residual stress is a result of the thermal gradient
created by the laser during laser cladding where during cooling
the colder material constrains the hotter material, thus generating
a tensile residual stress [21]. It should be acknowledged that a
compressive stress due to the austenite martensite transformation
would have reduced the magnitude of the tensile residual stress
formed due to the previous mechanism [22]. It is a general
observation that the maximum tensile residual stress, caused by
laser cladding in steel, is in the HAZ adjacent to the clad interface
[21,23]. Fig. 8b shows the importance and effectiveness of PCHT to
minimise the residual stresses. A number of other studies have
shown post-heat treatment to be an efcient method to reduce
residual stresses [19,24]. The minimised and remaining residual
stresses after PCHT are due to re-austenitising of the material and
subsequent slow cooling.
3.4. Tensile properties
Fig. 9 shows the comparison of the tensile behaviour with the
tensile properties summarised in Table 3. The tensile properties of
the substrate material are in agreement with a typical quench and

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S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

Fig. 8. Longitudinal residual stress prole, measured relative to the clad interface:
(a) as-clad condition and (b) PCHT condition.

220 1C temper AISI 4340 steel [4]. The substrate with 0.7 mm
grind-out represents a notched specimen where the cross-section
area used was of the original substrate rather than the reduced
area. Therefore the tensile properties were reduced by 1030%.
Fig. 9a shows both the yield and the ultimate tensile strength
(UTS) of the AISI 4340 as-clad were degraded by 40% compared to
the 0.7 mm grind-out specimen (refer to Table 3). The failure of
the AISI 4340 as-clad was very brittle, resulting in very little plastic
deformation and the ductility (elongation) was reduced signicantly by a factor of 20 compared to the 0.7 mm grind-out
specimen. The brittleness is due to the very high hardness in the
clad and HAZ from the predominance of untempered martensite,
which exhibits low ductility and toughness. The failure was also
pre-mature attributed to the inhomogeneity of the material
creating many local stress concentrators. The AerMet 100 as-clad
shows that changing the composition of the clad, with a lower
carbon and a higher nickel-cobalt content, can improve the tensile
properties relative to those of the AISI 4340 as-clad. The PCHT can
further improve tensile properties relative to those of the as-clad
due to control of the microstructure, as shown in Fig. 9b.
3.5. Fatigue life
Fig. 10 shows a comparison of the fatigue life curves. Again, the
substrate with 0.7 mm grind-out was treated as a notched specimen, and as expected, failed below the substrate. Fig. 10a shows,
for all stress levels tested, the fatigue life of the AISI 4340 as-clad
was poor, especially at high cyclic loads (1200 MPa) where the
fatigue life was reduced signicantly to 221 cycles, compared to

Fig. 9. Stressstrain curve of the axial tensile test. The end points represent the
point of fracture: (a) as-clad condition and (b) PCHT condition.

Table 3
Comparison of the tensile properties.
0.2% Yield (MPa) UTS (MPa)
Substrate
Substrate w/0.7 mm grind-out
AISI 4340 as-clad
AerMet 100 as-clad
AISI 4340 as-clad PCHT
AerMet 100 as-clad PCHT

1551.0 7 10
1442.5 7 60
1167.3 7 150
14727 20
1287.3 7 13
1298.8 7 8

Elongation (%)

1914.0 7 7
167 0.9
1769.8 7 25 11.17 1.9
1167.3 7 150 0.6 7 0.1
1616.3 7 80
3.0 7 0.6
2063.07 9
5.6 7 0.1
2110.5 7 21
7.2 7 0.5

the grind-out substrate of 8461 cycles. Similarly, at low cyclic loads

(600 MPa), the fatigue life was also reduced signicantly to 16,222
cycles, compared to the grind-out substrate of 87,386 cycles.
Fig. 10a also shows, for all stress levels, the fatigue life of AerMet
100 as-clad improved by a factor of 10 compared to the AISI 4340
as-clad. However, at 1200 MPa cyclic load, the fatigue life of
AerMet 100 as-clad (2605 cycles) was still reduced, compared to
the grind-out substrate of 8461 cycles. However, at an 800 MPa
cyclic load, the fatigue life of AerMet 100 as-clad was similar to the
substrate grind-out. Fig. 10b shows, for all stress levels, AerMet
100 as-clad PCHT (12,851 cycles at 1200 MPa cyclic loads) can
improve the fatigue life relative to the substrate grind-out (8461
cycles). However, the AISI 4340 as-clad PCHT fatigue life (4577
cycles at 1200 MPa cyclic loads) was still below the substrate
grind-out (8461 cycles), primarily due to pre-mature crack development from porosity. The results indicated that the PHT could
signicantly increase fatigue lives of the as-clad materials.

S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

53

mode in the over-tempered zone consists of MVC with transgranular cracks.

Fig. 12a shows the fatigue fracture surface appearance of
AerMet 100 as-clad. The fatigue crack initiation occurred at the
top surface of the specimen, as shown in Fig. 12b. The fracture
mode near the crack initiation site is TTS (Fig. 12c). Other regions
of the clad show MVC with local regions of quasi-cleavage
(Fig. 12d). Very little IG fracture is observed in the clad, which is
the main reason for an increased fatigue life compared to the AISI
4340 as-clad. Since the same substrate material is used, the
fracture modes in the HAZ were similar to the AISI 4340 as-clad
(refer to Fig. 11df), which shows IG and quasi-cleavage.
Fig. 13a shows the fatigue fracture surface appearance of AISI
4340 as-clad PCHT specimen. For all specimens, the crack
initiated at the porosity, as shown in Fig. 13b, which was the main
factor for the decreased fatigue life in these specimens. The
fracture mode was quasi-cleavage (Fig. 13c), which is expected
for an AISI 4340 steel that has been quenched and tempered [4].
Further away from the initiation site (Fig. 13d), tear ridges were
more prominent in the fracture surface with local quasi-cleavage,
in which crack propagation might have been more rapid in these
regions.
Fig. 14a shows the fatigue fracture surface appearance of the
AerMet 100 as-clad PCHT. The fracture started at the top surface
of the clad region, as shown in Fig. 14b. The fracture mode in these
specimens was mainly quasi-cleavage (Fig. 12c) accompanied by
deep secondary cracking. Similar to the AISI 4340 as-clad PCHT
specimen, tear ridges were more prominent in the regions away
from the initiation site (Fig. 14d).

4. Discussion
Fig. 10. Constant amplitude axial SN fatigue curve using R 0.1 and frequency of
10 Hz: (a) as-clad condition and (b) PCHT condition.

3.6. Fracture modes

Fig. 11a shows the fracture surface appearance of AISI 4340 asclad. The crack propagation arrested at the clad and HAZ interfaces
due to grain discontinuity and possibly different fracture toughness of each region. The fracture occurred at the top surface of the
specimen (clad region), and propagated rapidly in the clad layer,
then HAZ, as shown in Fig. 11b. Large porosity with a diameter of
100200 mm was also observed, although the fracture still initiated
from the surface of the clad. Fig. 11c shows the clad layer exhibited
mixed modes of fracture, mainly quasi-cleavage and intergranular
(IG) along the prior austenite columnar grain boundary with
regions of tearing topology surface (TTS) and tear ridges (TR).
The IG fracture along the prior austenite grain boundaries is
caused by IG embrittlement, possibly through segregation of
manganese sulphide (MnS) at the prior austenite grain boundary
[16,25]. IG fracture is generally encountered in low alloy cast steels
[16]. TTS is a result of micro-plastic tearing and often associated
with overload and high cyclic fatigue stresses [26]. Quasi-cleavage
is a result of tear ridges formed by micro-void coalescence (MVC)
accompanied by cleavage (C) facets [25]. No fatigue striations were
observed and any form of fatigue fracture might have occurred by
TTS. Fig. 11d shows the fracture mode in the thumbnail crack
region in the HAZ with a distinct transition from IG to quasicleavage (Fig. 11e). Chevron markings were clearly visible in the
HAZ (left to right in Fig. 11b) and generally indicate brittle fracture
zones and rapid crack propagation, which would be expected of a
material with very high hardness (4700 Hv) and a peak tensile
residual stress of 600 MPa in the HAZ. Fig. 11f shows the fracture

4.1. Fatigue behaviour

The fatigue behaviour of laser clad material is complex as the
formation of a clad specimen produces a composite with four
individual regions (clad, interface, HAZ, and over-tempered zone),
compared to a heat-treated uniform microstructure of the substrate. From a repair certication perspective and homogeneity of
the clad specimen, it is ideal to use the same clad material as the
substrate. Although the composition of the AISI 4340 clad is
relatively similar to the substrate, with a slight increase in
chromium and nickel content (Fig. 7a), each region has distinct
and unique microstructure and mechanical properties due to
variations in heating and rapid cooling resulting in complex
stresses.
The AISI 4340 as-clad condition, while the substrate successfully restored the cross-sectional area from the grind-out repair,
displayed reduced tensile properties (Fig. 9a) and fatigue life
(Fig. 10b), in comparison with the substrate grind-out specimens.
The major reasons for this degradation are (1) high hardness and
brittle properties in the clad and HAZ region, (2) high tensile
residual stresses in the HAZ and (3) grain non-uniformity such as
the columnar grains in the clad and coarsening of the prior
austenite grain boundary in the HAZ (Figs. 4a and 5b) promoting
intergranular fracture. The combination of these three factors
caused a signicant reduction in fatigue life. The bond strength
at the clad interface is also an issue and can degrade the tensile
properties which was the case for H13 tool steel clad on copper
alloy substrate [27]. In their study, the fracture initiated from the
clad interface.
However in this study, no delamination was observed for all
conditions and the failure initiated from the top surface of the clad
evident that the fusion bond strength was strong. A compressive
residual stress is produced in the AISI 4340 clad layer (Fig. 8a), and

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S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

Fig. 11. SEM images of AISI 4340 as-clad fatigue specimen failed at 221 cycles at 1200 MPa maximum cyclic load: (a) fracture surface appearance, (b) circled crack initiation
site, (c) fracture mode in clad, (d) fracture modes in the HAZ, (e) fracture modes in the HAZ Chevron region and (f) fracture modes in the over-tempered zone.
(IG intergranular, TTS tearing topology surface, TR tear ridges, C cleavage facets, and MVC micro-void coalescence.)

this was expected to provide resistance to crack development.

However, the fracture still initiated from the surface of the AISI
4340 clad (Fig. 11b); this is believed to be due primarily to the poor
mechanical properties (high hardness, low toughness, and low
capacity to work harden) of the clad layer.
4.2. Inuence of microstructure
The high hardness and brittle properties in the clad and HAZ
are due to the formation of un-tempered martensite phase in
these regions. Quench and temper AISI 4340 grade steel achieves
strength through the phase transformation of austenite to martensite, and retains toughness at the expense of a slight loss in
strength, through tempering of the martensite [4]. In laser cladding of AISI 4340 steel, during cooling of the deposited track,

austenite to martensite transformation occurs in the clad and HAZ

due to the rapid cooling rates, which for laser cladding are usually
between 103 and 105 1C/s [2,13]. At these cooling rates, the transformation of ferrite from austenite is suppressed and displasive process
occurs, causing martensite to form from the austenite lattice, which is
one of the hardest and most brittle phase of steel.
Bhattacharya et al. [13] reported on the microstructure evolution in direct metal deposition application of high strength steel
AISI 4340 steel powder. In their study, the AISI 4340 steel clad
microstructure primarily consists of tempered lath martensite.
Tempering occurred due to the re-heating caused by the subsequent overlapping tracks and hence signicant tempering of the
martensite occurs.
In this study, it is also reasonable to assume that the re-heating,
caused by the subsequent overlapping tracks, will lead to the

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55

Fig. 12. SEM images of AerMet 100 as-clad fatigue specimen failed at 2206 cycles at 1200 MPa maximum cyclic load: (a) fracture surface appearance, (b) circled crack
initiation site, (c) fracture mode in the clad near the initiation site and (d) fracture mode in the crack propagation region of the clad. (IG intergranular, TTS tearing
topology surface, TR tear ridges, C cleavage facets, and MVC Micro-void Coalescence.)

tempering of the martensite, causing a reduced hardness. However, the hardness remained uniform in the AISI 4340 clad layer at
approximately 650 Hv (Fig. 6a), which is similar to the hardness of
untempered martensite of AISI 4340 after an oil quench heat
treatment [4]. For tempering to occur, the previous track must cool
down below the martensite start (Ms) temperature before the
re-heating of the overlapping track. It seems likely that tempering
on the overlapping track was suppressed as the austenite in the
previous track was not cooled down below Ms temperature to
form martensite attributed to the progressive rise of the
substrate temperature above the Ms temperature [28], which for
AISI 4340 Ms 298 1C. The clad and HAZ still remained austenitic
during the re-heating of the overlapping tracks, where austenite to
martensite transformation occurred only after the completion of
the cladding when the bulk material was cooled down. Thus, hard
and brittle untempered martensite remained in the clad and HAZ,
which consequently led to the decreased fatigue life and brittle
failure modes of AISI 4340 as-clad. Increasing the substrate size
would allow the substrate to retain its heat extraction capacity
[28], causing the deposited track to cool down below the Ms
temperature and promoting the tempering effect from the overlapping track a preferred heat treatment for increasing ductility
and toughness.
4.3. Inuence of AerMet 100 powder
AerMet 100 as-clad demonstrated a great increase of fatigue life,
as compared to AISI 4340 as-clad. AerMet 100, known as secondary
hardening steels, achieves high strength and toughness through the
precipitation of M2C carbides in the lath martensite during age

tempering at 482 1C [29]. As discussed previously, the tempering

effect of the overlapping clad track was suppressed. Hence, little or
no secondary hardening takes place in the AerMet 100 clad.
The microstructure formation of AerMet 100 clad was similar to
AISI 4340 (Fig. 4a and b). The high nickel content in AerMet 100
would produce FeNi lath martensite and promote ductility. The
reduced clad hardness (Fig. 6a) was due to the lower carbon
content of AerMet 100 (0.25 wt%), compared to AISI 4340 (0.4 wt
%). It seems reasonable that reduced carbon content and increased
nickel content in the AerMet 100 clad would improve the fatigue
life by reducing the brittleness and increased toughness. This is
evident in the fracture surface of AerMet 100 clad where the
primary mode of fracture is TTS and quasi-cleavage (Fig. 12c and
d), compared to the dominant IG fracture in the AISI 4340 clad
(Fig. 11c). However, similar to the AISI 4340 clad, even with a
compressive residual stress, the fracture still initiated from the
surface of the AerMet 100 clad, indicating the hardness of 550 Hv
is still too high and brittle.
In future, using softer grade steels for the clad material, such as
HY 180 (carbon content of 0.10 wt%) and AF 1410 (carbon content
of 0.15 wt%), may provide further benet on fatigue properties.
Since the as-clad is a composite-like structure, as a consequence of
the reduced strength in the softer grade steels, the clad will yield
rst. However, softer grade steels have very high elongation and a
good capacity for work hardening; and with the assistance of the
compressive stress generated in the clad (Fig. 8a), it would lead to
a more uniform stress re-distribution into the HAZ and substrate.
Using softer grade high strength steels as the clad layer will be
investigated as a future work to further improve the fatigue
properties of ultra-high strength steels.

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S.D. Sun et al. / Materials Science & Engineering A 606 (2014) 4657

Fig. 13. SEM images of AISI 4340 as-clad PCHT fatigue specimen failed at 4316 cycles at 1200 MPa maximum cyclic load: (a) fracture surface appearance, (b) circled crack
initiation site, (c) fracture modes near the initiation site and (d) fracture mode in the crack propagation region. (IG intergranular, TTS tearing topology surface, TR tear
ridges, C cleavage facets, aMVC micro-void coalescence.)

4.4. Inuence of PCHT

The experimental results clearly demonstrate that PCHT signicantly increases the fatigue resistance to crack development
and propagation, showed by an increase in tensile properties and
fatigue life relative to those without post-heat treatment
(Figs. 9 and 10). It should be noted that even though the
compressive residual stress in the clad layer was removed from
PCHT (Fig. 6b), the fatigue life was still improved this is believed
to be due primarily to the recovered mechanical properties
(especially ductility and toughness) from PCHT in the clad and
HAZ region.
For future work, it is important that the material properties in
the substrate are not altered during PCHT. It seems likely that use
of a post-repair heat treatment process preferably localised
rather than bulk, to avoid dimensional distortion and further
damage to the substrate would temper the clad and HAZ only,
while also reducing the tensile residual stresses in the HAZ. The
benets of localised post-heat treatment the substrate will be
unaffected and it is unlikely an aeronautical component will be
post-heat treated as a bulk material due to complications with
certication and dimensional distortion.
No information on localised post-cladding heat treatment is
available in the open literature. Localised post-repair heat treatment will involve local heating from the laser beam onto the
surface of the clad, and ideally, to achieve a desired tempering
temperature through the clad and HAZ region, preferably 482 1C
for AerMet 100. Controlled tempering at the appropriate temperature will benet the AerMet 100 clad allowing secondary

hardening effects of precipitation of M2C carbides and improving

toughness while retaining the high strength.

5. Conclusion
The following conclusions are drawn:

 The tensile properties and fatigue life of the AISI 4340 as-clad

are degraded compared to the substrate material. The degraded

mechanical properties are associated with the very hard and
brittle properties in the clad and HAZ region.
Changing the clad layer to secondary hardening grade steel
(AerMet 100) can improve both the tensile properties and
fatigue life, as compared to those produced by the quench
and temper grade steel powder (AISI 4340).
Post-heat treatment demonstrated an increase in tensile properties and fatigue life relative to that without post-heat
treatment.

The repair of ultra-high strength steels requires further development to restore the fatigue properties. Since the control of
thermal cycling during the cladding process is limited, manipulating the powder composition offers opportunities for improving the
tensile and fatigue properties, as demonstrated with AerMet 100.
Also, it seems likely that use of a post-repair heat treatment
process preferably localised to avoid dimensional distortion
which would temper the clad and HAZ, while also reducing the
residual stresses in the HAZ, provides the most promising path to

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57

Fig. 14. SEM images of AerMet 100 as-clad PCHT fatigue specimen failed at 12,851 cycles at 1200 MPa maximum cyclic load: (a) fracture surface appearance, (b) circled
crack initiation site, (c) fracture mode near the initiation site and (d) fracture modes in the crack propagation region. (IG intergranular, TTS tearing topology surface,
TR tear ridges, C cleavage facets, and MVC micro-void coalescence.)

restore and possibly increase the fatigue life of damaged ultra-high

strength steel components.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the Defence
Materials Technology Centre (DMTC), which was established and
is supported by the Australian Governments Defence Future
Capability Technology Centre (DFCTC) initiative. The authors
would also wish to acknowledge the nancial support of Directorate General Technical Airworthiness (DGTA). In addition, the
authors are indebted to the Industirla Research Institute Swinburne (IRIS), especially Mr. Girish Thipperudrappa for his assistance during the laser cladding experiments.
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