Repair & Remanufacturing | Reliability Enhancement & Hardening | Manufacturing & Prototyping

Energy & Environment

Gicam technology can use DED laser cladding to repair critical components in the energy and environmental sectors, such as wind turbine shafts and hubs, turbine blades, wellheads, and process valves. It enables targeted cladding and anti-corrosion coatings on expensive equipment with long manufacturing lead times.
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Reliability Improvement & Hardening

Wellheads, drill bits, and valve bodies

H2S/CO2 corrosion, high pressures: a precisely applied coating on the gasket surfaces significantly reduces material costs compared to a solid part made entirely of a noble alloy.
These critical components, made of forged or cast steel, must resist corrosion (H₂S, CO₂, chlorides) while withstanding high pressures, which often justifies applying a corrosion-resistant alloy coating (Inconel 625, Stellite) to sealing surfaces and gasket seating surfaces.

DED Laser allows this coating to be deposited only where contact with the fluid is critical, while retaining a less expensive carbon steel body for the structure.

This hybrid approach significantly reduces material costs compared to a solid part made entirely of a corrosion-resistant alloy. It also enables the repair of existing parts that have suffered localized corrosion or erosion—a major challenge given the cost and lead times associated with replacing these certified (API, NACE) components.
Optimized material costs → High-quality coating applied only to sealing surfaces; body made of standard steel.
Qualified Repair → API/NACE-certified parts that can be repaired without requiring complete replacement.
Têtes de puits et corps de vannes (wellheads)
Photo: Joshua Doubek - Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0 — modified image

Key takeaways…
Gicam’s technology uses DED Laser to deposit a corrosion-resistant alloy coating (Inconel 625, Stellite) only where contact with the fluid is critical, while retaining a less expensive carbon steel body. This approach also allows for the repair of existing parts that have suffered localized corrosion or erosion—a major challenge given the cost of these API/NACE-certified components.

FAQ

Why not make the entire wellhead out of a corrosion-resistant alloy?

It is much more expensive: the DED process allows the noble alloy (Inconel, Stellite) to be deposited only on the surfaces exposed to the fluid, with a body made of standard carbon steel.

Can DED repair an existing API/NACE-certified wellhead?