Adaptive laser cladding for precise metal coating based on inline topography characterization - TopCladd

Project summary

Functional surfaces are a key factor for quality and efficiency of products and processes. Customized surfaces can lead to e.g. enhanced resistance to abrasion and corrosion. Laser cladding presents a solution, where a laser beam melts powder or a metal wire onto a surface, leading to its functionalization. In order to secure process stability and quality in such systems, an inline process monitoring and control is indispensable. Current monitoring systems use pyrometers and cameras with limited applicability as it solely enables a temperature based control. Quantitative or qualitative infor-mation of the resultant deposition layer is not available. The objective is the development of a machine integrated process monitoring and control, based on inline geometry measurement with a customized processing head. This enables the characterization of the deposited material before, during and after its solidification. Furthermore this information will be processed and used for process control.