Laser Engineered Net Shaping™ (LENS®) is being evaluated for use as a metal component
repair/modification process. A component of the evaluation is to better understand the characteristics of
the interface between LENS deposited material and the substrate on which it is deposited. A processing
and metallurgical evaluation was made on LENS processed material fabricated for component
qualification tests. A process parameter evaluation was used to determine optimum build parameters
and these parameters were used in the fabrication of tensile test specimens to study the characteristics of
the interface between LENS deposited material and several types of substrates. Analyses of the
interface included mechanical properties, microstructure, and metallurgical integrity. Test samples
were determined for a variety of geometric configurations associated with interfaces between LENS
deposited material and both wrought base material or previously deposited LENS material. Thirteen
different interface configurations were fabricated for evaluation representing a spectrum of deposition
conditions from complete part build, to hybrid substrate-LENS builds, to repair builds for damaged or
re-designed housings. Good mechanical properties and full density were observed for all configurations.
When tested to failure, fracture occurred by ductile microvoid coalescence. The repair and hybrid
interfaces showed the same metallurgical integrity as, and had properties similar to, monolithic LENS
deposits.Mechanical Engineerin
