Wear resistant tungsten reinforced W5Si3/W2Ni3Si intermetallic composite coatings consisting of small amount of well-developed tungsten primary dendrite and the metal silicides W5Si3/W2Ni3Si dual-phase structure were fabricated on a substrate of pure nickel plate by laser cladding process. Wear resistance of the coatings was evaluated under block-on-wheel dry-sliding wear test conditions at room temperature. Because of the strong covalent-dominant atomic bonds and the high hardness inherent to the tungsten silicides W5Si3 and W2Ni3Si, the intermetallic coatings have outstanding abrasive and adhesive wear resistance. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.