New Business Segment for Schweißdraht Luisenthal

metallic powder for brake disks, 3D printing and AM

Schweißdraht Luisenthal (SDL), a company of the Saarstahl Group, is expanding its product portfolio to include a third product line: a new metallic powder for laser cladding of brake discs, 3D printing and additive manufacturing (AM) has been added to the range – in addition to the existing business segments of cylinder bore coating and filler metals for special applications. Because the hygroscopic property of the powder means that it can become damp and segregate easily during prolonged transport, SDL offers customers the alternative of purchasing the production system and wire so they can produce the powder themselves on demand.

“With our new powder product, we are developing a completely new business segment and focusing on the automotive industry as our target group,” said SDL Managing Director Marc Philipps. Background information: The Euro 7 emission standard will in future include all emissions from new vehicles, including particulate matter caused by tire wear or during braking. Brake discs will therefore have to be coated with a metal powder suitable for preventing abrasion.

Metallic powder can be produced using various technical processes. The most common process is vertical atomization, where the feedstock material is melted and atomized in a vertical container. The downside of this process is that the resulting powder has varying particle sizes and must be processed again in a subsequent step.

In contrast, Schweißdraht Luisenthal uses diagonal atomization in its manufacturing process. “We melt and atomize the wires diagonally here. This has the following advantage: it allows us to extract the undersized powder particles (below 35 µ) during the production process and to sift out the oversized particles (larger than 70 µ),” Philipps explained.

The resulting premium quality powder from SDL can thus be filled into containers or used without further processing. The space-saving system, which fits into a 40-foot container, can itself be flexibly converted for other types of metal and can also atomize smaller quantities. The company has acquired a system and a patent for a system for diagonal atomization. The company will in future market the powder, but primarily will sell the machine with the corresponding wire. 

(Source: Saarstahl Group)