Patents Are Being Filed for a Ground-Breaking Process

Patents are being filed for a ground-breaking process and a company to market it being formed, following a successful Manufacturing Technology Centre-based project. The process has the potential to save UK industry millions of pounds by re-manufacturing high value components that would otherwise have gone for scrap. Generated via the Technology Strategy Board-backed RECLAIM project, it uses laser cladding, automated inspection and high speed machining in a single, fully integrated re-manufacturing cell. The technology enables manufacturers to repair and recycle worn, high value components, such as turbine blades, to a consistently high quality. The innovation is expected to make a major contribution to the efficiency of the aerospace, defence and power industries, in particular. As well as repairing damaged and worn parts, the system can be used to manufacture totally new complex metal parts, upgrade obsolete parts and reconfigure standard parts for for low volume applications. As well as the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the industrial partners in the RECLAIM project include software developer Delcam plc, metrology equipment developer Renishaw plc, laser processing equipment manufacturer Electrox, CNC integration experts Precision Engineering Technologies, and turbocharger manufacturer Cummins Turbo Technologies. In addition, Leicester DeMontfort University played a key role in the development of the laser cladding system. Source: Machinery