Laser cladding for rollers & drums

Typical properties and key considerations for rollers & drums

Each roller application comes with its own challenges: abrasive wear from conveyed materials, corrosion from aggressive environments, thermal cycling in casting lines, or mechanical stress from heavy loads. That’s why the choice of the protective coating must match the roller’s function, base material, and operating conditions. Here are some critical points: 

• Wear Resistance: In industries like steel manufacturing, mining, and recycling, rollers are exposed to continuous friction and abrasive materials. Cladding solutions such as Tardisphere provide excellent wear resistance, ensuring a longer service life and reducing the need for frequent maintenance. 
• Dimensional Integrity: Rollers and drums in industries like paper production or textiles must maintain precise dimensions to ensure smooth operation. Laser cladding is highly effective at restoring these components to their original dimensions without compromising the surface integrity, ensuring seamless functionality. 
• Economic value of roller recovery: Industrial rollers are often highly customized and expensive to replace. Laser cladding offers a cost-effective solution by restoring worn surfaces instead of replacing entire components. This avoids high capital expenses and prevents costly downtime—making each repair a smart financial choice.
• Ecological advantage: reducing waste, extending lifecycle: Laser cladding restores rollers to their original dimensions, allowing full reuse of the existing base material. This reduces waste and emissions from producing new components. For companies aiming to operate more sustainably, it’s a practical and circular maintenance solution.
• Corrosion Resistance: In environments where rollers are exposed to corrosive fluids, such as in food processing or offshore operations, the Quarite-series offers superior corrosion resistance without the risk of peeling off. This ensures that the rollers maintain their integrity and performance, even in the harshest conditions. The metallurgical bonding of laser cladding ensures there’s no risk of loose particles contaminating food, making it an excellent solution for food-grade applications. 
• Temperature Fluctuations: In applications where rollers and drums experience significant temperature changes, Topclad laser clad layers provide high thermal shock resistance, ensuring the materials retain their structural integrity under thermal stress. 
• Chemical Resistance: Rollers in industries exposed to aggressive chemicals, like food processing and chemical manufacturing, benefit from the superior chemical resistance of the Quarite-series, protecting them against chemical substances without compromising their performance.

With tailored coatings like Tardisphere, the Quarite series and the Calduron series, we cover the full spectrum from dry abrasive loads to corrosive and thermally unstable environments.

Proven performance in the steel industry

Few industries put more stress on rollers than steel production. In continuous casting and hot rolling, rollers are exposed to extreme heat, mechanical loads, cooling water and abrasive contact with semi-finished steel. Traditional overlay techniques like submerged arc welding with martensitic stainless steels often suffer from rapid corrosion, cracking or early failure.

Topclad’s Calduron series was developed specifically for such conditions. It delivers high thermal fatigue strength, corrosion resistance and wear protection, without requiring pre- or post-heat treatment. Already validated by leading steel producers, Calduron ensures maximum uptime, longer roll life, and improved safety in casting environments.