Dynamic Powder Feeding System for Laser Cladding

摘要

A powder feeding equipment has been designed for laser cladding. Tests have showed that the powder feeder is able to deliver a flow rate from 1.5 - 40 g/min, with a tolerance better than + or - 2% measured over a period of 30 seconds. This makes the feeder excellent for laser powers from 200 - 10,000 watts. The complete dynamic powder feeding system makes it possible to obtain a constant powder flow at a desired level and inject it into the melt pool with a powder beam size equal to the spot from the laser beam, even though the injector pistol is placed far away from the melt pool. Thereby, the equipment gives good opportunities to clad materials with 3-dimensional surfaces.