Abstract: The inventions disclosed by this application are for a cladding apparatus, a cladding head, and a method of cladding a relatively planar solid object such as a boiler waterwall. Cladding of non-horizontal surfaces is complicated by the effects of gravity as melted clad material trends to runoff the surface before the cladding material bonds to the appropriate location. The disclosed inventions overcome these limitations by controlling the relative angle of application by either rotating the workpiece or the cladding head through a pre-programmed sequence. Also presented in a compact design for a laser cladding head that facilitates such cladding by minimizing movement of the laser fiber and improves cladding speed over irregular shaped objects.

Abstract: The inventions disclosed by this application are for a cladding apparatus, a cladding head, and a method of cladding a relatively planar solid object such as a boiler waterwall. Cladding of non-horizontal surfaces is complicated by the effects of gravity as melted clad material trends to runoff the surface before the cladding material bonds to the appropriate location. The disclosed inventions overcome these limitations by controlling the relative angle of application by either rotating the workpiece or the cladding head through a pre-programmed sequence. Also presented in a compact design for a laser cladding head that facilitates such cladding by minimizing movement of the laser fiber and improves cladding speed over irregular shaped objects.