Development of an observation and control system for industrial laser cladding

Laser cladding has become an important surface modification technique in today’s industry. It is not only applied\ud for coating new products but also for repair and refurbishment as well as in rapid prototyping.\ud A laser clad workstation has been developed. It uses a 4 kW Nd:YAG fibre coupled laser as heat source. A\ud specially developed optical system combines the benefits from a Top-hat energy distribution with a practical\ud working distance. The clad material is supplied to the melt pool by a lateral powder nozzle.\ud A camera based monitoring system for the laser cladding process has been developed. This system determines\ud the main dimensions of the melt pool in real-time.\ud A developed FEM model of the laser cladding process accurately predicts the shape and temperature of the clad\ud layers by including the interaction between the laser beam and the powder jet. The model results are in good\ud correspondence with experimental results.\ud An extensive set of cladding experiments has been performed with variable spot size, laser power, cladding\ud speed and powder mass rate. From the experimental work, a clear correlation between the dilution and the width\ud of the melt pool was found. This correlation was found to be independent of the substrate temperature, enabling\ud real time control of the dilution by adjusting the laser power.\ud A feedback control strategy was developed and implemented based on the melt pool width information from the\ud camera. As a result, the energy input into the substrate and consequently thermal distortion of the products is\ud minimized, while a good metallurgical bonding and minimal dilution are obtained. Due to this minimal dilution,\ud the hardness of the clad layer can be controlled and maintained to be uniform.\ud High temperature gradients and different material properties may cause high residual stresses or even cracks. To\ud investigate this effect, a simple and fast method based on deflection measurements has been developed. The\ud residual stress values obtained by this procedure have been compared with stresses from X-ray measurements.\ud The results show tensile stresses of large magnitude develop in the layer, which increase with the cladding speed

Marangoni driven turbulence in high energy surface melting processes

Experimental observations of high-energy surface melting processes, such as laser welding, have revealed unsteady, often violent, motion of the free surface of the melt pool. Surprisingly, no similar observations have been reported in numerical simulation studies of such flows. Moreover, the published simulation results fail to predict the post-solidification pool shape without adapting non-physical values for input parameters, suggesting the neglect of significant physics in the models employed. The experimentally observed violent flow surface instabilities, scaling analyses for the occurrence of turbulence in Marangoni driven flows, and the fact that in simulations transport coefficients generally have to be increased by an order of magnitude to match experimentally observed pool shapes, suggest the common assumption of laminar flow in the pool may not hold, and that the flow is actually turbulent. Here, we use direct numerical simulations (DNS) to investigate the role of turbulence in laser melting of a steel alloy with surface active elements. Our results reveal the presence of two competing vortices driven by thermocapillary forces towards a local surface tension maximum. The jet away from this location at the free surface, separating the two vortices, is found to be unstable and highly oscillatory, indeed leading to turbulence-like flow in the pool. The resulting additional heat transport, however, is insufficient to account for the observed differences in pool shapes between experiment and simulations

Sensitivity Analysis of Process Parameters in Laser Deposition

In laser cladding with powder injection process, process output parameters, including melt pool temperature and melt pool dimensions, are critical for part quality. This paper uses simulation and experiments to investigate the effect of the process input parameters: laser power, powder mass flow rate, and scanning speed on the output parameters. Numerical simulations and experiments are conducted using a factorial design. The results are statistically analyzed to determine the significant factors and their interactions. The simulation results are compared to experimental results. The quantitative agreement/disagreement is discussed and further research is outlined.Mechanical Engineerin

State of the Art of Laser Hardening and Cladding

In this paper an overview is given about laser surface modification processes, which are developed especially with the aim of hardness improvement for an enhanced fatigue and wear behaviour. The processes can be divided into such with and without filler material and in solid-state and melting processes. Actual work on shock hardening, transformation hardening, remelting, alloying and cladding is reviewed, where the main focus was on scientific work from the 21st century

Compensation for Uneven Surfaces When Building Laser Deposited Structures

Direct Laser Deposition (DLD) is a blown-powder laser deposition process that can be used to quickly produce, modify or repair fully-dense metallic parts by a layered manufacturing method. However, uneven substrate surfaces often cause variation in the deposited layer which is magnified by succeeding layers. Research carried out at the University of Liverpool has resulted in a non-feedback layer height controlling process based on controlling the shape of the powder streams emitted from a four-port side feed nozzle. This method limits deposited layer height by causing a sharp reduction of catchment efficiency in the vertical plane at a fixed distance from the powder feed nozzle, and is therefore capable of depositing a consistent layer height in spite of power, powder flow or process velocity variation. This paper demonstrates how this method of layer height control can compensate for irregular substrate surfaces in the production of accurate DLD parts.Mechanical Engineerin

Effects of Gravity and Non-Perpendicularity during Powder-Fed Directed Energy Deposition of Ni-Based Alloy 718 through Two Types of Coaxial Nozzle

The consequences of gravity and the nozzle inclination angle in the powder-fed Directed Energy Deposition (DED) process were examined in this study. We also sought to define guidelines and manufacturing strategies, depending on the DED system configuration and the nozzle type. To do so, two nozzle types were used: a continuous coaxial nozzle with a slit of 0.5 mm and a four-stream discrete coaxial nozzle. Although the main effects of the configurations and the nozzles are well-known, their effects on the clad characteristics and the deposition strategy are as yet unclear. In this paper, measurements of a single clad and the effects of different deposition strategies on cladding applications and inclined walls are presented, and the consequences for manufacturing processes are discussed. Based on a complete study of a single clad, working vertically, five different tilted deposition strategies were applied: three to a single clad and two to an inclined wall. The results for both the single clad and the inclined wall reflect a pattern of changes to height, width, area, and efficiency, at both small and large nozzle angles and deposition strategies. The inclined wall presents a maximum horizontal displacement that can be reached per layer, without geometrical distortions. The amount of material per layer has to be adapted to this limitation.This research was funded by the European Commission through the project "PARADDISE: a Productive, Affordable and Reliable solution for large scale manufacturing of metallic components by combining laser-based Additive and Subtractive processes with high Efficiency” (Grant Agreement 723440), an initiative of the Public–Private Partnership “Photonics and Factories of the Future”. This research was also funded by European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT), through the project "DEDALUS: Directed Energy Deposition machines with integrated process ALgorithms Under dedicated monitoring and control System” (ID 20094), and by the vice-counseling of technology, innovation and competitiveness of the Basque Government (Eusko Jaurlaritza), under the ELKARTEK Program, PROCODA project, grant number KK-2019/00004

Latest Developments in Industrial Hybrid Machine Tools that Combine Additive and Subtractive Operations

Hybrid machine tools combining additive and subtractive processes have arisen as a solution to increasing manufacture requirements, boosting the potentials of both technologies, while compensating and minimizing their limitations. Nevertheless, the idea of hybrid machines is relatively new and there is a notable lack of knowledge about the implications arisen from their in-practice use. Therefore, the main goal of the present paper is to fill the existing gap, giving an insight into the current advancements and pending tasks of hybrid machines both from an academic and industrial perspective. To that end, the technical-economical potentials and challenges emerging from their use are identified and critically discussed. In addition, the current situation and future perspectives of hybrid machines from the point of view of process planning, monitoring, and inspection are analyzed. On the one hand, it is found that hybrid machines enable a more efficient use of the resources available, as well as the production of previously unattainable complex parts. On the other hand, it is concluded that there are still some technological challenges derived from the interaction of additive and subtractive processes to be overcome (e.g., process planning, decision planning, use of cutting fluids, and need for a post-processing) before a full implantation of hybrid machines is fulfilledSpecial thanks are addressed to the Industry and Competitiveness Spanish Ministry for the support on the DPI2016-79889-R INTEGRADDI project and to the PARADDISE project H2020-IND-CE-2016-17/H2020-FOF-2016 of the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program

In-Situ Defect Detection in Laser Powder Bed Fusion by Using Thermography and Optical Tomography—Comparison to Computed Tomography

Among additive manufacturing (AM) technologies, the laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is one of the most important technologies to produce metallic components. The layer-wise build-up of components and the complex process conditions increase the probability of the occurrence of defects. However, due to the iterative nature of its manufacturing process and in contrast to conventional manufacturing technologies such as casting, L-PBF offers unique opportunities for in-situ monitoring. In this study, two cameras were successfully tested simultaneously as a machine manufacturer independent process monitoring setup: a high-frequency infrared camera and a camera for long time exposure, working in the visible and infrared spectrum and equipped with a near infrared filter. An AISI 316L stainless steel specimen with integrated artificial defects has been monitored during the build. The acquired camera data was compared to data obtained by computed tomography. A promising and easy to use examination method for data analysis was developed and correlations between measured signals and defects were identified. Moreover, sources of possible data misinterpretation were specified. Lastly, attempts for automatic data analysis by data integration are presented

Control Methods for the Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication Process

Engineering a closed-loop control system for an electron beam welder for additive manufacturing is challenging. For earth and space based applications, components must work in a vacuum and optical components must be protected from becoming occluded with metal vapor. For extraterrestrial applications added components increase launch weight and increase complexity. Here we present three different control methods for electron beam free form fabrication. A relatively simple coarse feedback control method is introduced that couples path planning and electron beam parameter controls into the build process to increase flexibility and improve build quality. The different approaches may be applied separately or together to provide enhanced EBF3 system performance.Mechanical Engineerin