Marine turbochargers are of great importance for the performance of main-propulsive or auxiliary engines in shipping and power generation installations. Despite the fact that their construction and operation are fairly simple, having just a turbine rotor that drives a compressor wheel, being the only moving assembly, they are prone to damage.
Often turbine shafts journals and sealing ring/strips wear out, turbine wheel blades get damaged due to rubbing with the casing, and compressor wheels are also found very often with damaged vanes due to rubbing and bearing housings wear out. Regardless of the reason, damaged components need to be replaced or repaired safely and reliably as high rotating speeds and generating forces are pushing components to the limits. A turbine rotor with damaged journals and/or sealing ring is considered beyond repair by all makers. The same is valid if turbine blades or compressor wheel vanes are damaged. These are expensive spares and often are not found in stock, thus increasing downtime and losses. The alternative is to repair using a safe, reliable and well-proven technique, such as Laser Cladding.
Within our Laser Cladding cell, we repair all types of turbochargers and their components. Turbine shafts journals and sealing rings are restored to their original dimensions, by buildup followed by machining and grinding. The fact and advantage that Laser cladding achieves a strong metallurgical bond, makes these repairs 100% reliable and safe, compared to old-fashioned coating techniques which are prone to flake off. The same is valid for the turbine blades and compressor vanes. Our system consisting of 9 axes in total can follow even the most complex trajectories of blades/vanes profiles and build up the same with proper material. Final machining is carried out in multi-axes CNC machines ensuring that final dimensions and profile are met to tolerances of less than 0.01mm. An extra benefit of Laser Cladding is its ability to also build components made of cast iron and thus turbocharger bearing housings and casings can also be restored.
The process in general, is very fast keeping downtime to a minimum and 100% safe, due to the metallurgical bond achieved. It is therefore a cost-effective solution as it restores the service life and value of critical components whose replacement by new would mean high expenses.