Induction melted FeCrB metamorphic coatings deposited onto Q235 steel were produced using ultrasonic frequency inductive cladding (UFIC) technique. The measurements of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectrometer (EDS), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), microhardness tester and ball-on-disc wear tester were used to determine the microstructure, microhardness and dry-sliding wear resistance coupled with wear mechanism of clad coatings. The experimental results show that C+ clad coating consists of austenite gamma-Fe, interdentritic lamellar eutectics gamma-Fe/(Cr, Fe)(2)B and borides (Cr, Fe)(2)B as the reinforcing phase whilst the phases of ferrite alpha-Fe, borides Cr1.65Fe0.35B0.96 and eutectics alpha-Fe/Cr1.65Fe0.35B0.96 are identified in M clad coating. The average microhardness of the C+ and M clad coating is more than 3-times than that of the substrate. The wear resistance of the C+ and M clad coating improves 5.18, 6.08 times compared with that of the substrate at applied load of 20 N, respectively, which contributes to the occurrence of the crystalline-amorphous phase transition by friction treatment and uniformly distributed borides embedded in the ductile solid solution matrix. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.