The Co-base alloy laser cladding layer was coated on the 2738 mold steel surface by using the TJ-HL-5000 transverse-flow CO2 continuous laser. The morphology and hardness were investigated by metallography microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and microhardness tester. The metallography microscope and SEM investigations show that from interface to surface along the cross section direction, the cladding layers consist of plane crystal layer, columnar crystal layer, dendrites layer and surface cellular crystal layer, respectively. XRD results indicate that the cladding layer is made of γ-Co, Cr23C6, MoC, FeCr and Co3Mo2Si phases. The micro-hardness of the laser cladding coating was about 900-1100HV1, 3 times or more of the steel substrate. And the mechanisms of microstructure formation and strengthening are investigated.
