Remanufacturing and surface modification in micro-areas by laser beam and microTIG methods

Abstract

Over the past years, intensive development of welding technologies that enable precise impact on the workpiece has been observed. The laser technology is the most known and commonly used tool for precise machining, both in terms of obtaining the appropriate geometry and heat distribution. This technology is now easily available, but it still has many limitations in its "basic edition". An attractive alternative in machining micro-areas can be the arc method ‒ microTIG, which is a modification of the TIG method.The work compares the effects of cladding of selected pairs of substrate materials using the microTIG method and a laser beam. The results of microscopic tests and hardness measurements of deposits made with a laser beam and the microTIG method are presented. The advantage of cladding with the microTIG method was the possibility of obtaining deposits with a lower dilution of the substrate material in the clad weld compared to laser cladding. On the other hand, clad welds produced with the laser beam had a significantly smaller amount of welding defects.