Laser cladding for metal overlays
A thermal coating process in which corrosion- or wear-resistant filler materials in powder or wire form are melted onto an unalloyed base material using a laser beam to produce a metallurgically dense protective layer with minimal dilution.
In laser cladding, you melt the filler material (powder or wire) with the laser beam and deposit it onto the component. The heat is very concentrated, so the heat-affected zone stays small and you get a clean, dense layer. The big advantage is that you have very little dilution with the base material, keeping the layer metallurgically clean. If you don't have the parameters under control, the layer will become either porous or the deposit will be uneven. So make sure the distance to the workpiece stays constant and the feed speed matches the melt pool size. Ensure the melt runs evenly and constantly check the layer quality, then you can adjust the settings directly if needed.