Maintaining competitiveness in manufacturing companies requires the continuous improvement of component specifications and/or alternative, more cost-efficient process chains for production and recycling management. As an alternative manufacturing process, a modified variant of laser cladding, extreme high-speed laser cladding (EHLA), could increase the coating efficiency for wear and corrosion protection of rotationally symmetrical components many times over, as the process allows high feed rates (> 20 m/min) and the processing of difficult-to-weld materials. The Fraunhofer ILT has transferred the initially 2D rotationally symmetrical process to processing in 3 dimensions for additive manufacturing, free-form surface coating and repair. In addition to the possibility of processing non-rotationally symmetrical components, the EHLA process in 3 dimensions, EHLA3D, enables the combination of high application rates and high structural resolutions.
The process-specific advantages of the EHLA3D process are the construction of thin-walled elements, the processability of difficult-to-weld materials and near-net-shape additive manufacturing. Depending on the choice of material, these advantages allow component specifications and process specifications that can open up new fields of application in the industrial environment. Examples of the expansion of the application possibilities of EHLA3D to other fields of application include
- Efficient additive manufacturing of filigree components
- Near-net-shape repair of worn components made from difficult-to-weld materials for the circular economy
- Surface free-form coating for wear and corrosion protection and application of friction-reducing sliding layers
Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT
