Laser Cladding Services

Product Details

An Alternative to traditional welding and thermal spray is Laser Cladding. This technology is similar to thermal spray in that it has an energy source to melt the feed stock that is being applied to a substrate. Where it differs is that it uses a concentrated laser beam as the heat source and it melts the substrate that the feed stock is being applied to. This results in a metallurgical bond that has superior bond strength over thermal spray. Additionally the resulting coating is 100% dense with no voids or porosity.

The basic system is made up of a laser to generate the beam, a set of optics to direct and focus the beam, a powder feeder, and a part manipulator. The laser and optics stay stationary and the part is moved in relationship to the laser. The laser cladding systems are fully automated providing precise control of the coating (cladding) process.

One of the advantages of the laser cladding process is the concentrated beam of energy from the laser. It can be focused and concentrated to a very small area and keeps the heat effected zone of the substrate very shallow. This minimizes the chance of cracking, distorting, or changing the metallurgy of the substrate. Additionally the lower total heat minimizes the dilution of the coating with material from the substrate.