The first benefit is that we routinely repair the "unweldable" nickel- and cobalt- based superalloys with no micro-cracking in the heat affected zones. In fact, at 400X magnification, the MicroMIG heat affected zone is still not visible. It's that small!

The second benefit of MicroMIG is that it does not produce any measurable distortion. It is for this reason, that we are able to repair finish components that are machined to very tight tolerances, without any measurable warpage. MicroMIG is an invaluable tool for the MRB engineer to use to salvage mismachined parts.

MicroMIG does have limitations, though. These limitations are primarily economic limits not technical limits. As the MicroMIG process is slow compared to conventional TIG or plasma arc welding, it is generally not used to carry out large repairs due to the long welding times.

However, for making small repairs to parts made from "unweldable" superalloys, or for making small repairs to finish machined nickel, cobalt, or stainless steel parts, MicroMIG has no equal. We have salvaged very expensive parts that would otherwise have been scrapped because they could not have been conventionally repaired due to dimensional tolerance constraints or the unweldability of the alloy.

An offshoot of our MicroMIG process is a process we call T-REX hardfacing. Our T- REX process has been used for many years to weld on thin even layers of extremely hard materials for wear resistance. We have welded on conventional cobalt-based hardfacing alloys as well as exotic carbides in a metal matrix. Extremely beneficial applications include hardfacing of ultrasonic welding horn tips (up to ten times the horn life), machine ways (eliminates having to routinely scrape them in for accuracy), large cutting tools (often more than triples the cutter life), and other unique applications that involve reducing friction between surfaces.