Laser cladding: Ploughshare (agriculture / tooling)

The aim is to improve the wear resistance of highly stressed areas on agricultural machinery ploughshares exposed to intense abrasive conditions. The approach seeks to reduce material consumption by favouring localised treatment, while significantly extending part service life in line with circular economy principles and optimised maintenance.

IREPA LASER implements cladding using powder-fed laser DED with materials specifically selected for their wear resistance. The treatment is applied only to the functional areas to optimise material use, while the process parameters are adjusted to ensure controlled dilution and consistent metallurgical quality.

The performance of the process relies on fine control of dilution, kept below 5 % to preserve the properties of the deposited alloy. It is also a matter of ensuring genuine in-service effectiveness on worn or exposed areas, while guaranteeing the industrial reproducibility of a repair or cladding process on tools subjected to severe field stresses.

Dilution is kept below 5 %, ensuring deposit integrity and material performance. The parts show a significantly longer service life under real operating conditions. The solution is now industrially validated and paves the way for more sustainable and cost-optimised maintenance strategies.