The preparation of Mo

2

FeB

2

cermet by vacuum sintering technology causes a large initial investment for equipment

low production efficiency

high cost and poor adaptability for engineering applications. In order to overcome these disadvantages

the Mo

2

FeB

2

cermet can be prepared by laser cladding. In this paper

the effects of RE(Rare earth) mass fraction on the microstructure and properties of cladding metal were studied by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM) and hardness tester. It was found that the hard phase of the claddings with 2% RE addition was obviously refine

d compared with that without the addition of rare earth. With the further increase of rare earth addition

the hard phases began to agglomerate and connect with each other. Adding rare earth can make more Cr element replace Fe element in Mo

2

FeB

2

. The replacement is more at addition of 2% RE

is the most at the addition of 8% RE

and is less at the addition of 4% RE. As for the claddings with 0

2%

4% and 8% RE added

the area fractions of the hard phase were 30.84%

53.74%

71.25% and 54.92%

respectively

and the average microhardness were 627HV

923HV

1008HV and 742HV. These results suggest that the area fraction of the hard phase and the hardness of the claddings are significantly improved with the addition of RE.