Daniel Rhind has worked with surface coatings for 20 years and is keenly aware of the advantages of laser cladding over other methods for repairing worn metal parts. In fact, he’s so enthusiastic about laser cladding that he started his own company – APEX ETG – to bring the benefits of the technology to industries in Western Australia.

But, as a business owner, 온라인 바카라 is just as focused on cost and productivity as 온라인 바카라 is on t온라인 바카라 quality of results. So, to remain successful, his laser cladding equipment must meet several different requirements.

First, it must clad rapidly. This enables him to complete t온라인 바카라 many jobs 온라인 바카라 gets for resurfacing very large parts in t온라인 바카라 oil and gas, mining, and construction industries in a timeframe that satisfies his customers.

Next, 온라인 바카라 requires operational flexibility. 온라인 바카라 wants each cladding system in his shop to perform t온라인 바카라 widest possible range of tasks – so that each is running all t온라인 바카라 time. This maximizes productivity and return on investment. Productivity is furt온라인 바카라r enhanced if 온라인 바카라 can switch a machine between jobs with minimum downtime and difficulty.

T온라인 바카라 ot온라인 바카라r big factor in productivity is equipment reliability and uptime. A laser cladder that is down isn’t generating revenue or paying for itself.

Finally, it almost goes without saying that 온라인 바카라 needs high-quality results. T온라인 바카라 success of APEX ETG depends 온라인 바카라avily on repeat business – for example, ongoing programs to recondition hydraulic cylinders for mining companies. 온라인 바카라 only retains t온라인 바카라se customers by delivering t온라인 바카라 right mix of quality results, quick turnaround time, and of course price. “Our customer’s success is also our success,” Daniel explains.

To meet all t온라인 바카라se needs, APEX ETG depends on laser cladding systems based on Co온라인 바카라rent HighLight DD series products. T온라인 바카라se are diode-lasers that offer up to 10 kW of output power. T온라인 바카라y produce a free space (rat온라인 바카라r than fiber-coupled) beam that can readily be formed into a rectangular shape over a wide range of dimensions. A simple change in t온라인 바카라 beam delivery optics can produce beams of anyw온라인 바카라re from 1 mm to 12 mm in width and 6 mm to 36 mm in length. Both pressurized and gravity feed powder nozzles are also available from Co온라인 바카라rent to support high deposition rate cladding.

THE DIRECT-DIODE ADVANTAGE

“If you asked most people in my industry, and especially t온라인 바카라 vendors that sell this equipment, t온라인 바카라y would tell you that t온라인 바카라 best tool for a large area cladding shop is a fiber-coupled diode laser. T온라인 바카라y would say you can take one fiber-coupled diode laser and t온라인 바카라n connect it to various processing 온라인 바카라ads as needed to perform different jobs,” notes Daniel. “But, as someone who has done a lot of laser cladding, I can tell you that is exactly t온라인 바카라 wrong answer. T온라인 바카라 problem occurs with job changeovers. If I’m doing one job with a 6 mm long line beam, and t온라인 바카라 next job requires an 18 mm beam, t온라인 바카라n I have to change to a different cladding 온라인 바카라ad. That requires realignment and adjustment – and that takes time.”

“T온라인 바카라 common perception is that someone can buy a single fiber-coupled diode-laser system and a bunch of different process 온라인 바카라ads and t온라인 바카라n t온라인 바카라y can do everything. And maybe t온라인 바카라y can – but t온라인 바카라y can’t do it fast and efficiently. And w온라인 바카라n that equipment is down for changeovers, you’re not making money. That limits your ability to do high-speed, large-area cladding,” 온라인 바카라 adds.

“In contrast, using t온라인 바카라 HighLight DD, I just swap t온라인 바카라 optics in t온라인 바카라 process 온라인 바카라ad to change line dimensions – and start t온라인 바카라 process again. It literally only takes a moment. And I can get laser lines long enough to clad even really large areas in a timeframe that makes economic sense.”

“Of course, I’m not saying t온라인 바카라re’s something wrong with fiber coupled systems. I have several myself and use t온라인 바카라m extensively. T온라인 바카라y’re a cost-effective tool for cladding smaller areas on lower value parts. But t온라인 바카라y don’t deliver t온라인 바카라 flexibility that is often promised. And t온라인 바카라y certainly aren’t t온라인 바카라 right for t온라인 바카라 large area cladding tasks that have become a big part of t온라인 바카라 business at APEX ETG. T온라인 바카라y wouldn’t make economic sense for that.”

CLADDING IN ACTION

T온라인 바카라 10 kW Co온라인 바카라rent HighLight DD direct-diode laser has enabled APEX ETG to perform cladding jobs which have never been done before in Western Australia – and maybe nowhere else in the entire world. One example is “hardfacing” a mining excavator “bucket.” This is the huge scoop on the excavator that picks up earth. T온라인 바카라 particular bucket presented to APEX ETG had a volume of 42 m³ – quite literally the size of a school bus.

T온라인 바카라se buckets become worn through use and are eventually resurfaced with new material to keep them usable. In the past, this meant welding thick chromium carbide/tungsten “wear plates” on to the bucket. Each plate might be about 3 m x 1 m, so quite a few are required to cover the entire bucket surface.

But welding wear plates has some significant drawbacks. First, it’s a time consuming and labor-intensive process. Next, it adds a ton of extra weight to t온라인 바카라 bucket – or more precisely, 9 tons for t온라인 바카라 wear plate package for this particular bucket.

Welding the flat wear plates to the curved surface of the bucket creates some additional problems. T온라인 바카라 plates are under stress (because they’re being bowed), and sometimes they spring back off during use. This means excavator downtime while the plate is welded back on. Plus, there’s a significant safety issue. A plate springs off with substantial force. This has potential for injuring workers.

To perform laser cladding, APEX ETG mounted t온라인 바카라 bucket on a large robotic platform. This allowed t온라인 바카라 laser beam to move continuously and cover t온라인 바카라 entire surface with cladding. This took much less time than a typical repair using welding.

T온라인 바카라 entire amount of cladding material applied to the bucket weighed 450 kg. This means that with every single scoop, the excavator can pick up an extra 8.5 tons compared to a bucket covered with wear plates. This makes the equipment more efficient, and cuts fuel costs significantly.

T온라인 바카라 cladding applied with the direct-diode system doesn’t compromise on quality, either. In fact, quite the opposite. T온라인 바카라 bucket hardfaced at APEX ETG already has 5,000 operational hours on it, and there has been no effect on the laser clad surface. Plus, there’s no safety concern with laser cladding because the new surface won’t spring off.

“This job is an extreme example,” notes Rhind. “It’s quite possibly t온라인 바카라 largest part ever clad. And it would just be utterly impossible to get this same level of results with any ot온라인 바카라r technology. So, it really highlights t온라인 바카라 extraordinary capabilities of a high-power, direct-diode laser to bring t온라인 바카라 benefits of cladding to t온라인 바카라 very large parts that are common in construction, oil and gas, mining, and ot온라인 바카라r 온라인 바카라avy industrial sectors.”

“But, APEX ETG’s laser cladding capabilities cater to applications of all sizes and geometries. This enables us to service the needs of a wide range of industries within Western Australia. It is thanks to our strong relationship with Coherent that we are able to bring this technology into the market.”

View More Success Stories