An Integrated Software System for Laser Cladding Repair of Worn-out Components

Recovering worn-out tools/parts could have significant economic benefits. Traditionally, only some of these worn-out components can be repaired by conventional welding processes. Laser cladding is a material depositing method by which injected powder material is melted by a laser beam and re-solidified to form a dense coating with metallurgical bonding onto a substrate. This technology can be used in the component repair to restore undersized worn-out areas. Compared to conventional welding processes, laser cladding utilizes much less heat input with much better control, which drastically reduces or even eliminates distortion, and, therefore, enables the repair of complex components that cannot be repaired using conventional welding processes. Original CAD model does not represent the worn out component anymore and cannot be used directly for the component repair. Therefore, the first step in the laser cladding repair procedure is to extract the actual geometry of the components. Non-contact freeform surface measurement is widely used for this purpose.

We developed a unique software system for laser cladding repair of worn-out components, which integrates the non-contact freeform surface measurement, the cladding path creation and the cladding program generation seamlessly. The surface contour is measured along with the predesigned scanning paths based on its original CAD model. The measured results are filtered to remove noise, and then compared with the CAD model. Finally, the cladding path planner creates the cladding program (G-code) based on the selected laser cladding parameters. Through this integrated software, the undersized worn-out components could be repaired effectively and easily by laser cladding process.