iClad makes replacement of critical components avoidable

At Stork Gears & Services, laser cladding is used as a tried-and-tested technology to prevent wear-out and unwanted material changes. The laser cladding department, successfully apply this technique on more than 20 gear repair or modification jobs per month on average. However, in about 10 percent of the cases, inaccessible internal surfaces could not be treated with conventional laser processing heads. Until about a year ago, there was no alternative but to replace the damaged parts with new ones. The solution to this problem is iClad. iClad - A small processing head with great potential iClad is a laser processing head developed by Pallas GmbH for the treatment of internal contours from a diameter of 26 mm and to a depth of 600 mm. By using this innovative processing head, Stork Gears & Services has opened up new possibilities for the repair of critical components. Compared with the previously unavoidable effort involved in such cases for the production of a new part from scratch, this technology means that several weeks of repair time can be saved. Perfection down to the last detail The previously available processing heads were only deployable for internal contours with an access aperture of at least 100 mm diameter, or were limited to the treatment of freely accessible surfaces. The iClad processing head, developed by the company Pallas GmbH, headquartered in Wuerselen near Aachen, Germany, in collaboration with the Aachen Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT), can be used from a diameter of 26 mm and to a depth of 600 mm for the complete range of laser cladding tasks. Whether hardening, alloying, or coating  – even in the tightest of internal spaces iClad renders the most demanding internal surface treatments possible. Advantages of iClad iClad has several technical and economical benefits for our customers: iClad repairs critical gearbox components in record time and makes replacement of critical components avoidable iClad can be used for the tightest of internal spaces from  Ø 26 mm and to a depth of Ø 600 mm iClad can be used for the complete range of laser cladding tasks and makes the most demanding internal surface treatments possible Read more:

iClad for critical gearbox components In the maritime industry, in power stations or wind power plants, gearboxes and gearwheels have to operate reliably over long periods of time under the hardest of conditions. In many different sectors, corrosion, abrasion and erosion put such drive systems under extreme pressure. This results in broken or damaged gearwheels, leading to unplanned downtime or, in the worst case, complete failure. Since last year, however, Stork Gears & Services have been successfully using the new iClad processing head for the preventative maintenance, modification and repair of such heavily stressed drive systems. Now, both damaged and new components can be optimally coated with low distortion using a 2-kilowatt diode laser.