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Minimising programming costs, quality control thanks to layer thickness measurement and many other advantages
Process optimisation using 3D scanner
Thanks to an integrated line scanner, voestalpine eifeler Lasertechnik GmbH is able to reduce “tedious and time-consuming” programming work and avoid the once-necessary CAD data transfer. This enables you to significantly reduce process costs.
The era before 3D scanners
In the past, component geometries had to be available in special CAD formats in order to program the tool paths for laser cladding. Transferring this data, errors in the CAD models or even missing models resulted in the need to invest large amounts of time in programming the tool paths. Measuring the generated weld volume in order to control quality was not only time-consuming, but also prone to error.
State-of-the-art voestalpine eifeler – 3D scanners
A line scanner scans the desired component surface and generates a point cloud (figure 2). This point cloud is used to automatically generate a CAD model of the scanned area. The result is an actual geometry of the surface in just a few seconds – and one that can be used for further processing. This data is used to program tool paths for the laser powder cladding (figure 4). The programming takes place fully automatically once the contour areas are entered (figure 3). Once the welding process is complete, the method can be used for quality control. To do this, a new scan of the surface is carried out and the system compares the target and actual situations. This analysis simplifies and optimises quality assurance.
Advantages of the method