Laser Cladding in Plastic Extrusion

Extrusion screws are used in plastic industries for the extrusion process. In the plastic extrusion process, molten plastic is forced by the extrusion screw into the die, and the molten plastic achieves the desired shape.

These extrusion screws are subjected to various impacts during the process:

• Mechanical wear due to constant friction between screw and plastic surface.
• Some plastic materials create corrosive environments, so extrusion screw must be able to withstand that.
• Thermal Stress due to repeated heating and cooling cycles.
• If there are any contaminants in plastic, it can cause abrasion or damage to the screw and affect its performance.

To prevent all these, and enhance the performance of the screw, various surface modification methods are used to modify its surface properties. Laser Cladding is one of the most popular methods which involves giving the base material a coating of another material with help of Laser. It gives many advantages.

• Protection from wear resistance:
  Coatings of composite hard alloys are given to the screw which enhance its resistance to wear, and enhance its life span and performance.
• Corrosion protection:
  Some plastic materials are corrosive in nature and can degrade the performance of the screw. In such cases, Laser Cladding can be used to give the screw a coating of corrosion resistant material which safeguards it from impact of any chemicals which are harmful for it and this makes the screw more durable.
• Repairing of screw and barrel, and dimensional restoration:
  Extrusion screws and barrels are critical components in the plastic extrusion process, and they are subjected to a lot of impacts, due to which over a period of time, they undergo deformation. It can lead to variations in its dimensions. Replacing these screws is very time consuming and expensive. So, Laser Cladding is used to add material and restore the worn out parts to their original shape and dimensions.
• Surface Modification:
  With Laser Cladding, surfaces of screws can be modified to give them customized surface textures, patterns or features. This helps in optimizing the mixing efficiency, flow, quality and process performance.

For these purposes, Laser Cladding is used in the plastic extrusion industry.
Laser Automation pvt. Ltd. Has been working in the Laser industry since 2009, and we manufacture Laser Cladding machines and provide turnkey solutions for Laser Cladding. Following is a short video to demonstrate Laser Cladding of extrusion screws. In this video, a highly wear and abrasion resistant coating of nickel based Tungsten Carbide is cladded on the extrusion screw using a robotic laser cladding machine. However, according to requirements, CNC based Laser Cladding machines can also be provided.

Depending on different applications. a Laser Cladding machine customized according to the specific requirement can be designed with required automation integrated with the Laser system to suit the customer’s specific need.