Market Segments

Market Segments

Wherever metal products need protection against corrosion, wear, heat or impact from outside, Topclad Laser Cladding offers high-quality solutions. The only prerequisite is that the product has a cylindrical shape like a rod, drum, roller, bearing or likewise.

In the offshore market the demands on corrosion resistance and especially on pitting are high. In the dredging and mining industry the focus lays on impact, wear and corrosion resistance. Integrated length measuring systems, high corrosion resistance and high-quality surface roughness are important features for bridges and water locks. For the steel processing industry, the laser clad layer needs to be high wear and heat resistant up till 950 °C and high hygienic (sanitary) properties are important for the food processing industry.

Summarizing, every market segment has its own technical requirements. Topclad Laser Cladding offers dedicated high-end solutions for each specific market.

Just like the offshore and maritime market, the reliability of dredging equipment plays a major role in the selection criteria of materials. Especially overflow cylinders, spud carrier cylinders and bottom door cylinders are exposed to a highly corrosive environment, including H2S gas. The ability to withstand high levels of debris and to absorb energy from external impact – without damaging the corrosion protection shield – are other important technical requirements for dredging equipment. The Topclad Quarite NR+ and Topclad Tardisphere layers are especially well-suited for the dredging market and provide the highest protection against corrosion, external impact and wear.

Some of these cylinders are located in salt water areas, other in brackish or fresh water. The number of cylinder movements are usually restricted in comparison to other applications. Generally speaking, Topclad offers in these cases a laser clad layer that fits the circumstances. Several options are available.

Additionally, a Topclad Length Measuring System (i.e. a laser cladded CIMS system) might be required to control the bridge deck or water lock door position. This highly reliable and economic attractive option is available on all Topclad Quarite layers.

The main similarity between yellow goods is their ability to guarantee a high reliability. To ensure this reliability the equipment must be able to withstand the harshest shocks, impacts from outside and high wear due to abrasive particles in the environment.

The main activities are digging, dragging, scraping, drilling and heavy duty transport. In many cases, this equipment is jobwise hired, for very intensive usage and minimum time or attention for maintenance. The hydraulic cylinders, including cylinder rods, need to be very reliable and fool-prove.

Especially for this market, Topclad developed Tardisphere. Tardisphere is a tungsten carbide layer that combines a high corrosion resistance with an excellent wear and impact resistance. The tungsten carbides are imbedded in a matrix of a nickel-based superalloy and have a hardness of 2700HV.

Basically, mining is the extraction of minerals from the earth. The related equipment covers therefore drilling, rock cutting, loading, breaking, crushing and tunneling. Mining equipment can be subjected to a lot of abrasive particles, aggressive gases (H2S), salt water, high changing loads and external impacts. Besides that, this type of equipment needs to be in operation 24/7. Maximum uptime of this capital-intensive equipment is required.

Topclad is able to deliver laser clad layers with absolute high wear resistant properties for 24/7 usage. The Topclad Tardisphere and Tardisphere XC layers are the most frequently used layers for the mining industry.

The steel manufacturing process requires a lot of drums, rollers and mandrels. Besides the high temperatures, the processing equipment also has to deal with high forces, wear and pollution. The Topclad layers have the ability to resist permanent high temperatures up till 950C° and at the same time show high wear resistance. These are important requirements for especially rollers, drums and mandrels that are being used nearby the furnaces.  The Topclad Tardisphere or Quarite XT layers guarantee long service lives, despite the high temperatures and high shearing forces.

Food processing equipment needs to be hygienic and so a lot of stainless steel is being used in processing equipment. Stainless steel is, to a certain level, able to resist lye and acid needed for cleaning and rinsing. In some cases stainless steel is not allowed, because this alloy might resolve in certain cleaning liquids. In these cases a nickel-based layer provides a chemical and corrosion resistant solution.

Topclad offers stainless steel claddings as well as nickel-based layers that are allowed almost all over the world. In case drums are filled with pressurized liquids, laser cladding is excluded from pressure vessel directives since laser cladding doesn’t affect the physical properties of the cladded steel.