Titanova’s laser cladding is a new weld repair process that can be used to restore critically worn surfaces of metal parts. Typical critical surfaces include the bearing journals, seal surfaces, hydraulic shafts, valve seats/gates, etc. Titanova’s laser cladding remanufacturing technology creates less heat, dilution, and much smoother weld overlays. This is compared to traditional arc welding such as MIG and TIG over-lay processes. This is primarily due to the fact that traditional arc processes are limited to a larger minimum thickness, excessive dilution/heat, and a rougher surface. Additional cost savings are realized by the pre and post machining requirements. They are significantly reduced in many cases requiring only a few thousandths of pre-machining and post machining for clean-up.
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Unlike a thermal spray coating, a laser welded clad can resist extreme shear stress. Titanova has the capability to clad thin layers of exotic and harder materials such as inconels, 431 SS and StellitesTM resulting in a part that is better than new. Titanova – combined with years of material expertise allows welding clad repair of a diverse set of base materials. If the parts are cast iron, tool steel, or stainless steel, Titanova has a process that can repair the part.
The potential commercial applications of laser cladding for remanufacturing (a.k.a refurbishing) are found throughout all industries, specifically; energy recovery, food production, agriculture, construction, mining, marine, energy and chemical production, and transportation.
Remanufacturing Money Tree
Titanova’s advanced cladding process is a significantly faster and more cost-effective method to remanufacture metal parts. Remanufacturing places the emphasis of wringing more productivity out of the OEM components.
With laser refurbishing, one can consider components that already have significant amount of residual value in labor, material, energy, overhead, and capital costs. A great example is shown in Figure 1. This is an 8000 LB bull gear in which only a 2 inch long surface of the critical bearing surface needed repair. The turnaround time for this job was 1 day. This demonstrates a huge cost savings in both replacement and delivery time.
Figure 1 – Laser refurbished bearing surface on bull gear
It has been documented that remanufacturing of commercial and military components can recoup 85% to 90% of the energy and materials in the components that are rebuilt, thus significantly reducing the demand for energy and material resources required to sustain a population of components. This remanufacturing opportunity is even more compelling as metal and energy commodity prices hover near record levels. Therefore, laser remanufacturing is a truly Green Technology both from an environmental and financial viewpoint. Even for the Green energy industry, Titanova is playing a major role in laser clad remanufacturing wind turbine shafts as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Laser refurbishing a 2.3 MW Siemen wind turbine main shaft
Give Titanova the opportunity to grow your MONEY TREE. Contact us today.
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