Additive Layer Manufacturing using Metal Deposition

Among the additive layer manufacturing techniques for metals, those involving metal deposition,including laser cladding/Direct Energy Deposition (DED, with powder feeding) or Wire and ArcAdditive Manufacturing (WAAM, with wire feeding), exhibit several attractive features. For instance,one can mention high mass efficiency (50–80% for LMD, 100% for WAAM), large build rates (morethan 100 cm3/h), sound microstructures with a limited amount of porosities, and the ability to buildgraded or multimaterials. Even though corresponding processes have been developed a rather longtime ago, there is still an important demand for research work in various topics such as deposition ofnovel or graded materials, postprocessing, and wear behavior of deposited materials.The current Special Issue, including six contributions, aims at presenting recent and original workdedicated to all these aspects, with a more specific focus on coatings than on 3D structures

Laser Shock Processing on Metal

Since its invention in the late 1960s, and the pioneering work on metal strengthening in USA during the late 1970s, laser shock processing (LSP) has become a reliable surface treatment for improving the mechanical or corrosion resistance of metallic materials. Moreover, laser-induced shock waves can also be envisaged for the investigation of dense matter’s behavior—including phase transformations—under ultra-high strain rate loading (up to 107 s−1) using dedicated diagnostics (VISAR, etc.). This Special Issue on LSP aims at providing a rather exhaustive and up-to-date state of the art on LSP based upon the most recent research works. The following fields are covered in the seven selected papers: materials’ behavior and phase transformations under high strain rate (Amadou et al. [1]), new loading conditions with ultra-short pulses (Petronic et al. [2]) surface modifications induced by laser peening including recrystallization effects (Zhou et al. [3]) and warm laser peening (Huang et al. [4], Chen et al. [5]), and novel applications of LSP such as water droplet erosion resistance (Gujba et al. [6]) or impact spot welding (Liu et al. [7]). The wide variety of topics related to LSP highlights the extraordinary dynamism and enthusiasm of the growing international LSP community

Generation and characterization of T40/A5754 interfaces with lasersPatrice

Laser-induced reactive wetting and brazing of T40 titanium with A5754 aluminum alloy with 1.5 mm thickness was carried out in lap-joint configuration, with or without the use of Al5Si filler wire. A 2.4 mm diameter laser spot was positioned on the aluminum side to provoke spreading and wetting of the lower titanium sheet, with relatively low scanning speeds (0.1–0.6 m/min). Process conditions did not play a very significant role on mechanical strengths, which were shown to reach 250–300 N/mm on a large range of laser power and scanning speeds. In all cases considered, the fracture during tensile testing occurred next to the TiAl3 interface, but in the aluminum fusion zone. The interfacial resistance was then evaluated with the LASAT bond strength tester, based upon the generation and propagation of laser-induced shock waves. A 0.68 GPa uniaxial bond strength was estimated for the T40/A5754 interface under dynamic loading conditions

Multiphysics Simulation and Experimental Investigation of Aluminum Wettability on a Titanium Substrate for Laser Welding-Brazing Process

The control of metal wettability is a key-factor in the field of brazing or welding-brazing. The present paper deals with the numerical simulation of the whole phenomena occurring during the assembly of dissimilar alloys. The study is realized in the frame of potential applications for the aircraft industry, considering the case of the welding-brazing of aluminum Al5754 and quasi-pure titanium Ti40. The assembly configuration, presented here, is a simplification of the real experiment. We have reduced the three-dimensional overlap configuration to a bi-dimensional case. In the present case, an aluminum cylinder is fused onto a titanium substrate. The main physical phenomena which are considered here are: the heat transfers, the fluid flows with free boundaries and the mass transfer in terms of chemical species diffusion. The numerical problem is implemented with the commercial software Comsol Multiphysics™, by coupling heat equation, Navier-Stokes and continuity equations and the free boundary motion. The latter is treated with the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian method, with a particular focus on the contact angle implementation. The comparison between numerical and experimental results shows a very satisfactory agreement in terms of droplet shape, thermal field and intermetallic layer thickness. The model validates our numerical approach

Influence of a pulsed laser regime on surface finish induced by thedirect metal deposition process on a Ti64 alloy

tThe direct metal deposition (DMD) laser technique is a free-form metal deposition process, which allowsgenerating a prototype or small series of near net-shape structures. Despite numerous advantages, oneof the most critical issues of the technique is that produced pieces have a deleterious surface finish whichrequires post machining steps. Following recent investigations where the use of laser pulses instead of acontinuous regime was successful to obtain smoother DMD structures, this paper relates investigationson the influence of a pulsed laser regime on the surface finish induced by DMD on a widely used titaniumalloy (Ti64). Findings confirm that using high mean powers improves surface finish but also indicate aspecific effect of the laser operating mode: using a quasi-continuous pulsed mode instead of fully-cw laserheating is an efficient way for surface finish improvement. For similar average powers, the use of a pulsedmode with large duty cycles is clearly shown to provide smoothening effects. The formation of larger andstable melt pools having less pronounced lateral curvatures, and the reduction of thermal gradients andMarangoni flow in the external side of the fusion zone were assumed to be the main reasons for surfacefinish improvement. Additional results indicate that combining the benefits from a pulsed regime and auniform laser irradiation does not provide further reduction of surface roughness

Influence of various process conditions on surface finishes induced by the direct metal deposition laser technique on a Ti–6Al–4V alloy

The direct metal deposition (DMD) with laser is a free-form metal deposition process for manufacturing dense pieces, which allows generating a prototype or small series of near net-shape structures. One of the most critical issues is that produced pieces have a deleterious surface finish which systematically requires post machining steps. This problem has never been fully addressed before. The present work describes investigations on the DMD process, using an Yb-YAG disk laser, and a widely used titanium alloy (Ti–6Al–4V) to understand the influence of the main process parameters on the surface finish quality. The focus of our work was: (1) to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for deleterious surface finishes, (2) to propose different experimental solutions for improving surface finish. In order to understand the physical mechanisms responsible for deleterious surface finishes, we have carried out: (1) a precise characterization of the laser beam and the powder stream; (2) a large number of multi-layered walls using different process parameters (P(W), V(m/min), Dm (g/min), Gaussian or uniform beam distribution); (3) a real time fast camera analysis of melt pool dynamics and melt-pool – powder stream coupling; (4) a characterization of wall morphologies versus process parameters using 2D and 3D profilometry. The results confirm that surface degradation depends on two distinct aspects: the sticking of nonmelted or partially melted particles on the free surfaces, and the formation of menisci with more or less pronounced curvature radii. Among other aspects, a reduction of layer thickness and an increase of melt-pool volumes to favor re-melting processes are shown to have a beneficial effect on roughness parameters. Last, a simple analytical model was proposed to correlate melt-pool geometries to resulting surface finishes

Yb–YAG laser offset welding of AA5754 and T40 butt joint

In this work, a 5754 Al alloy and T40 were joined in butt configuration by focusing a fiber laser onto the titanium side, close to the weld centerline (offset). The keyhole was made entirely of titanium, and the fusion of the aluminum was achieved by heat conduction. Neither filler metal nor chamfering was necessary to produce a sound, dissimilar weld. The assembly was free from porosity and spatter defects. The mechanical properties were satisfactory. The energy input, the laser offset, and their interaction had statistically significant effects on the ultimate tensile strength. The findings of this investigation prove the robustness and suitability of fiber laser offset welding for Al–Ti weld fabrication

Phenomenological aspects of quasi-perfect pivots in metallic pantographic structures

This article discusses the results of the first attempts to print metal pantographic structures with perfect pivots, i.e. with rotational hinges connecting the two families of fibers composing the network without any stiffness. On the one hand, it is observed that perfect pivots do not behave as expected theoretically. On the other hand, the force measured during a bias extension test is a few orders of magnitude lower than that measured for pantographic structures with standard pivots (where a certain stiffness is associated to the interconnecting hinges). This leads to considering the pivots as quasi-perfect (non-zero stiffness, but neither the theoretical one which can be computed by means of the geometrical features of the pivot). Numerical simulations complete the analysis by showing how, by modulating the torsional stiffness of the pivots, it is possible to reproduce the force-displacement plot both in the case of standard pivots and with quasi-perfect ones

Characterization at a local scale of a laser-shock peened aluminum alloy surface

The influence of a laser shock peening mechanical surface treatment on 2050-T8 aluminum alloy has been investigated, mostly using Scanning Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy. Volta potential difference maps around Al(CuFeMn) precipitates were performed before and after laser-shock peening to determine the influence of laser treatment versus galvanic coupling near precipitates, and resulting pit initiations. It has been shown that laser shock peening either preserves or reduces precipitate-matrix Volta potentials gradients, which in this later case, and correlated to recent corrosion electrochemical investigations, could explain corrosion improvement obtained after laser-shock peening treatments of aluminum alloys. The influence of crystal orientation and plastic deformation, and more specifically the effect of laser-induced compressive residual stresses or work-hardening, on the Volta potential values and on the pitting corrosion behavior was also addressed

Finite element analysis of laser shock peening of 2050-T8 aluminum alloy

AbstractLaser shock processing is a recently developed surface treatment designed to improve the mechanical properties and fatigue performance of materials, by inducing a deep compressive residual stress field. The purpose of this work is to investigate the residual stress distribution induced by laser shock processing in a 2050-T8 aeronautical aluminium alloy with both X-ray diffraction measurements and 3D finite element simulation. The method of X-ray diffraction is extensively used to characterize the crystallographic texture and the residual stress crystalline materials at different scales (macroscopic, mesoscopic and microscopic).Shock loading and materials’ dynamic response are experimentally analysed using Doppler velocimetry in order to use adequate data for the simulation. Then systematic experience versus simulation comparisons are addressed, considering first a single impact loading, and in a second step the laser shock processing treatment of an extended area, with a specific focus on impact overlap. Experimental and numerical results indicate a residual stress anisotropy, and a better surface stress homogeneity with an increase of impact overlap.A correct agreement is globally shown between experimental and simulated residual stress values, even if simulations provide us with local stress values whereas X-ray diffraction determinations give averaged residual stresses