Laser Surfacing of Ball Valves

Laser surfacing of ball valves is a revolutionary technique that has transformed the manufacturing industry. This process involves using a laser beam to melt and fuse a layer of material onto the surface of ball valves, resulting in enhanced durability and performance. The laser surfacing technique offers numerous advantages over traditional methods, making it an ideal choice for valve manufacturers. One of the key benefits of laser surfacing is its ability to create a strong metallurgical bond between the coating and the base material. This ensures that the coating remains intact even under extreme conditions, such as high-pressure or corrosive environments. Additionally, laser surfacing allows for precise control over the thickness and composition of the coating, enabling manufacturers to tailor it to specific requirements. Furthermore, laser surfacing can significantly extend the lifespan of ball valves by improving their resistance to wear and erosion. The high energy density of the laser beam enables rapid solidification and minimal heat-affected zones, resulting in a hard and dense coating that can withstand abrasive forces. With its numerous advantages, laser surfacing is set to continue shaping the future of the valve manufacturing industry.
 
Laser Surfacing
Laser surfacing is a technology that places coating materials on a substrate, uses the heat generated by high-energy-density laser beam irradiation to heat the material and melt it rapidly, and then self-cools to form a metallurgical bonding material cladding layer on the surface of the substrate. This technology has the advantages of fast cooling speeds, metallurgical bonding between the cladding material and the substrate, a wide variety of cladding materials, a large range of cladding layers, and high economic benefits. It is often used in the remanufacturing and repair work of large equipment. Wei Tian and others believe that laser surfacing is currently a research hot topic in the industry, but the research difficulty of rapid process planning must first be overcome. He proposed using the geometric characteristic model of laser surfacing cross-section for rapid process planning and verified the rationality of the planning through test specimens. Xueyun Du and others believe that automation and intelligence are the development trends of laser surfacing equipment, functional optimization, and stable performance are the development trends of laser surfacing materials, and process standardization and efficiency improvement are the development trends of laser surfacing processes. Ziwu Liu and others used laser surfacing and tungsten argon arc (TIG) on blades (FV520B) to prepare a cladding layer with the same composition as the matrix. The results show that the laser cladding layer has a dense structure and good performance, and its average hardness is 1.6 times that of the raw material, while the average hardness of the TIG cladding layer is the same as that of the raw material. Guang Zhang and others used iron-based self-fluxing alloy powder to prepare a cladding layer on the damaged crankshaft. It was measured that the microhardness of the cladding layer was 2.6 times that of the base material, which greatly improved the performance of the part. Huoping Zhao and others used laser surfacing to prepare a Co06 alloy cladding layer with a thickness of 1.5mm on a brake disc made from 30CrSiMoVA. The cladding layer and the substrate have good metallurgical bonding; the surface hardness of the brake disc is greatly improved; the friction coefficient is slightly reduced, and the wear resistance is improved. Haitao Liang designed two types of laser cladding powders BQF-1 and BQF-2, based on the use requirements of sealed semi-ball valves and the design principles of laser cladding powders. After testing the two powders under different cladding conditions, the BQF-1 alloy cladding layer has a lower friction coefficient and better wear resistance. Subsequently, BQF-1 was used to remanufacture the sealed semi-ball valve, and an alloy cladding layer was successfully prepared on the surface of the failed ball valve. Uozato and others used plasma spraying to prepare an iron-based alloy coating on the inner wall of a diesel engine cylinder, and studied the wear resistance of iron-based alloy coatings with different nickel contents.
 
Laser surfacing is a new type of surface repair technology, which has the advantages of small thermal impact, dense surfacing layer structure, and green environmental protection. It is recommended to use laser surfacing for surface repair of ball valve remanufacturing. Before repairing, you should first use absolute ethanol to clean the surface oil stains. Use magnetic particle inspection to inspect the valve core and valve seat to determine whether there are defects. Then the alloy powder is prepared and laser cladding begins. After the surface repair work is completed, the valve is machined according to the design requirements, and the valve is installed. In the future, a remanufacturing plan should be developed for the ball valve; a complete set of process flows should be determined; standards and specifications should be unified; a mature industrial chain should be formed, and the great economic potential contained in it should be explored.