Welding consumables for wear protection, repair and demanding material joints.
Development and production of electrodes to meet specific material and application requirements.
Technical selection aids and calculation tools for safe material decisions.
When data is missing or components fail, we create the foundation for reproduction and optimisation.
Analysis of materials, wear patterns and causes of damage. The goal is to derive appropriate measures for long-lasting solutions.
Our in-house laboratory for material and component analysis. Reliable results without long waiting times.
Hands-on training and presentations on welding consumables, wear protection and material selection – on site at your company.
Targeted build-up and optimisation of components using laser technology. For applications that cannot be realised using conventional methods.
Optimised components for heavily stressed applications. For reduced wear and minimised downtime.
Typical applications and solutions from industrial practice. From wear protection to component optimisation.
Application examples for joint and hardfacing welding. From manual applications to automated processes.
Application examples for soft and hard brazing. From delicate joints to industrial series processes.
Application examples for functional and protective surface coatings. From wear protection to finishing of complex components.
Missing original drawings, discontinued series parts or unusual component geometries quickly reach the limits of conventional manufacturing. Additive manufacturing by 3D printing instead produces such components layer by layer from metal, reconstructs parts that can no longer be procured and optimises their geometry where the original design reached its limits.
In capilla's Laser Competence Centre, metal components are created by robot-assisted welding automation that applies the material precisely and reproducibly layer by layer. Since this industrial 3D printing requires no component-specific moulds or special tools, it is also suitable for one-offs and small series that cannot be manufactured economically by conventional means.
If the manufacturing documentation for a component is missing, its geometry can be reconstructed by 3D scan. capilla digitally captures the existing part and manufactures it anew by metal 3D printing – dimensionally accurate to the original and with targeted design modifications on request. This makes it possible to reproduce components for which neither drawing nor supplier is available.
In additive manufacturing by 3D printing, a spare part is not merely reproduced but can simultaneously be adapted in geometry and material. Stressed areas can be reinforced or made from a different material, increasing the service life of the component and reducing follow-up costs in operation. A pure spare part thus becomes an improved variant of the original.
Components with internal cooling channels, undercuts or freeform surfaces can be produced additively because the material is applied layer by layer and no mould-bound tools are required. Additive manufacturing thus opens up geometries that cannot be realised – or can only be realised with considerable effort – by machining or casting methods.
Since metal 3D printing requires no component-specific tools, the tooling commitment that makes conventional manufacturing uneconomical for small quantities is eliminated. Design changes can be incorporated directly into the next component. This shortens lead times for prototypes, functional samples and small series.
Some components are so severely worn that restoration is no longer worthwhile. Others have been discontinued for years, the manufacturer no longer exists and a replacement is no longer obtainable through regular channels. In such cases the component can be manufactured from scratch via additive manufacturing. The following six points show where the benefit for the operator arises.
If there is no longer any documentation for a component and the manufacturer no longer supplies it, it can still be reproduced. A 3D scan of the existing part provides the data from which additive manufacturing produces the new component. The operation thus remains independent of whether an original part is still available on the market.
In casting or pressing, a mould must first be made for the respective component – and that only pays off at high volumes. In metal 3D printing, a welding robot deposits the material directly from the design data, without a mould having to be built first. Even a single component can be manufactured economically this way.
If a plant is shut down and the right spare part is not in stock, every hour counts. Since no mould-making is required upstream, the component can be manufactured immediately from the data by automated welding. This welding automation shortens waiting times compared to a new order with a long delivery lead time and reduces costly downtime.
Custom parts, one-offs or components adapted to one's own requirements can be produced with additive manufacturing. Since the component is created directly from the design data in metal 3D printing, even a single unit is feasible without a large quantity being needed to make it worthwhile.
In additive manufacturing, the new component does not have to be identical to the old one. Highly stressed areas can be reinforced or made from a more resistant material. This creates not just a replacement but a component that lasts longer than the original.
In conventional machining, a component is worked out of a solid block of material and the rest falls away as swarf. Additive manufacturing applies the material only where it is actually needed. Especially with expensive metals, this noticeably reduces material usage.
Additive manufacturing at capilla combines industrial 3D printing with automated welding technology. It begins with the 3D scan of the component and leads via automatic path calculation to the layer-by-layer build-up in metal 3D printing, which as a DED-Arc process (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, WAAM) manufactures directly from wire materials. The first steps follow in a fixed sequence; for the material deposition itself capilla combines laser-based and conventional welding processes depending on the task.
At the start the component is captured by a 3D scan that digitally maps its exact geometry. The scan makes even damaged or worn surfaces measurable and forms the basis for the subsequent steps.
From the scan data, the specially developed software capiCAM-3D in the Laser Competence Centre (LCC) calculates the optimised weld paths directly. This automated path programming replaces manual programming and makes material deposition repeatable from part to part.
During material deposition the component is built up layer by layer. In metal 3D printing as a DED-Arc process (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, WAAM) it is manufactured directly from wire materials – resource-efficiently and with low distortion due to controlled heat input. With the specially developed solid wires from capilla, hardness values of up to 70 HRC can be achieved.
capilla does not rely on a single process but combines automated and conventional welding processes depending on the component and task. Available are laser-based processes such as laser wire and laser powder welding, plasma multiwire welding (capiClad MultiWire 3D) with up to 12 kg/h at 100 percent material utilisation, and TIG cold and hot wire. Which of these are used depends on the respective requirement.
Additive manufacturing at capilla is based on automated welding technology in which a welding robot deposits the material along the calculated paths. Which process is used depends on the component, material and required layer. From fine laser deposition to large-area metal 3D printing, capilla combines the following processes rather than committing to just one.
A laser beam melts the welding consumable layer by layer onto the component, fed as wire or powder. The heat remains narrowly confined, resulting in dense, firmly bonded functional layers. These are wear- and corrosion-resistant and allow even complex shapes.
Plasma multiwire welding (capiClad MultiWire 3D) deposits very large quantities simultaneously with multiple wires – up to 12 kg/h at 100 percent material utilisation. It is thus the most economical process for large-area build-up and also manufactures complete components from wire as WAAM 3D printing.
TIG cold and hot wire are the fine, well-controllable processes for a uniform weld pool. With hot wire the wire is preheated, which increases the quantity and protects the component. Both are suitable for sensitive or already pre-machined parts.
We support you in planning and implementing your additive manufacturing – from analysis to the finished component.
The material is decisive in additive manufacturing for layer properties, adhesion strength and functionality. Standard materials are often not sufficient for demanding applications.
capilla offers welding consumables for additive manufacturing processes – matched to the process, base material and required component properties.
In the Laser Competence Centre capilla bundles modern technologies for additive manufacturing and laser-based processing.
Components are created here that could not be manufactured by conventional methods. Processes, material deposition and results can be precisely controlled and reproduced.
From reconstruction without drawings to optimised series production – the LCC enables solutions that go beyond the state of the art.
Additive manufacturing refers to the production of a component by layer-by-layer material deposition, rather than machining it from a block or casting it. The material is applied layer by layer until the component is formed.
Metal 3D printing is the umbrella term for the layer-by-layer manufacture of metal components. WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing) is a specific method thereof in which an arc melts the material directly from wire and deposits it. The advantage lies in high deposition rates and good material utilisation.
capilla uses WAAM via the plasma multiwire process for the economical build-up of complete components and advises on which process is right for a component.
Laser-based additive manufacturing processes achieve very high dimensional accuracy. Depending on the process and component size, achievable tolerances are in the range of a few tenths of a millimetre. Post-processing by grinding or turning is possible if required.
Yes. Via a 3D scan of the existing part, a digital model is created from which the manufacturing data can be derived. This allows even discontinued components to be reproduced for which neither drawing nor manufacturer is available.
capilla handles digital reconstruction and additive manufacturing from a single source and supports making a component that can no longer be procured available again.
In metal 3D printing the component is built up directly from wire materials that can be selected to specification. With specially developed solid wires, the plasma multiwire process achieves hardness values of up to 70 HRC, making it possible to manufacture even highly stressed components.
It is worthwhile when a component is no longer available, is needed in small quantities or has a geometry that is difficult to produce conventionally. Since no component-specific tooling is required, even a single unit is economical.
capilla assesses based on the component whether additive manufacturing is worthwhile in the specific case and produces it by metal 3D printing directly from the design data.
Dimensional accuracy results from the digital process chain: from the 3D scan, the software calculates the weld paths that a welding robot follows automatically. Through this welding automation, every component is manufactured under the same conditions and is reproducible.
