Thermal processes of a powder particle in coaxial laser cladding

This paper presents a numerical analysis of the heating, melting and evaporation processes of a single spherical powder particle when irradiated by a CO₂ laser beam in coaxial laser cladding. The power particle has a size ranging from 20 to 200 μm and the intensity of the laser has been varied from 500 to 3000 W. The laser energy, initial powder velocity and size have been shown to have important effects on the temperature profile of the powder stream. It has also been shown that high powder evaporation due to high power laser radiation may induce significant loss in the powder particle mass, to as much as 25% of the initial size at certain conditions in the simulation.     

激光熔覆中金属粉末粒子与激光相互作用模型

为了对同轴激光熔覆过程中运动的金属粉末粒子的速度和温度进行理论分析,并研究各工艺参量的影响,建立了运动中金属粉末粒子的运动模型和热模型.模拟结果表明,粉嘴几何尺寸、粒子直径以及气/粉两相流初始速度是影响粒子运动行为的重要因素;粉嘴几何尺寸、激光焦点位置、激光发散角、激光功率、粒子直径以及气/粉两相流初始速度是影响粒子热行为的重要因素.在相同的工艺参量下(粉嘴出口内径r=2 mm,粉嘴倾角α=60°,初始气流速度v0=0.8 m/s),基于数字粒子图像测速(DPIV)技术,对316L不锈钢粉末粒子运动模型进行了实验验证.结果表明,运动理论模型是可靠的.该模型是掌握同轴激光熔覆过程中金属粉末粒子运动行为的有效工具;同时,热模型也是分析粉末粒子温度随不同参量变化的重要工具.     

Numerical simulation of powder transport behavior in laser cladding with coaxial powder feeding

Laser cladding with coaxial powder feeding is one of the new processes applied to produce well bonding coating on the component to improve performance of its surface. In the process, the clad material is transported by the carrying gas through the coaxial nozzle, generating gas-powder flow. The powder feeding process in the coaxial laser cladding has important influence on the clad qualities. A 3D numerical model was developed to study the powder stream structure of a coaxial feeding nozzle. The predicted powder stream structure was well agreed with the experimental one. The validated model was used to explore the collision behavior of particles in the coaxial nozzle, as well as powder concentration distribution. It was found that the particle diameter and restitution coefficient greatly affect the velocity vector at outlet of nozzle due to the collisions, as well as the powder stream convergence characteristics below the nozzle. The results indicated a practical approach to optimize the powder stream for the coaxial laser cladding.     

Effects of process variables on laser direct formation of thin wall

In this paper, effects of process variables on wall thickness, powder primary efficiency and speed of forming a thin metallic wall in single-pass coaxial laser cladding are investigated, and some resolution models are established and testified experimentally. With some assumptions, each of wall thickness, powder primary efficiency and formation speed can be defined as a function of the process variables. Wall thickness is equal to width of the molten pool created in single-pass laser cladding and determined by laser absorptivity, laser power, initial temperature, scanning speed and thermo-physical properties of clad material. Powder primary efficiency and formation speed are both dependent on an exponential function involving the ratio of melt pool width, which is decided by the process variables, to powder flow diameter. In addition, formation speed is influenced by powder feed rate. In present experiment, a 500 W continual-wave (CW) CO₂ laser is used to produce thin-wall samples by single-pass coaxial laser cladding. The experimental results agree well with the calculation values despite some errors.     

激光熔覆中同轴粉末流温度场的数值模拟

在激光同轴送粉熔覆中,由于激光与粉末流相互作用,粉末流整体温度分布直接影响激光熔覆的质量.基于非预混燃烧模型,将激光相处理为连续性介质,粉末颗粒相看作离散相物质,建立了激光作用下粉末流的质量、动量和能量方程.用Fluent软件进行了不同激光功率和粉末流速度条件下粉末流整体温度场数值模拟,讨论了各种参数对温度场分布的影响.为了验证该模型的准确度,利用CCD比色测温方法测量了粉末流整体温度场分布.结果表明,数值模拟与CCD检测结果具有良好的一致性,数值模拟结果对激光熔覆具有指导意义.     

Coaxial laser cladding on an inclined substrate

This paper describes an experimental and theoretical study of the cladding mode of coaxial laser cladding on an inclined substrate. Based on the image analysis of the powder stream and clad profile measurements in coaxial laser cladding, it was found that irregular clad profiles always formed on an inclined surface and the location of the peak profile shifted away from the clad center. This phenomenon is caused by uneven distributions of powder concentration and laser beam intensity. A modified Gaussian mode for powder stream and laser beam was proposed to estimate the clad profiles on an inclined plane under laser beam irradiation. The effects of the inclined steel substrate on the CO₂ laser beam absorption and stainless-steel powder catchment were examined experimentally. The results show that both the laser absorption and the powder catchment on the mild steel decrease with increasing the cladding angle. From the analysis of laser beam mode, the clad width is equivalent to the beam spot size on the inclined substrate. However, the clad height correlates well with the distribution of the powder concentration. The results show that the Gaussian cladding mode could be adopted in various laser cladding applications such as rapid prototyping and butt welding to predict the clad profiles precisely.     

Identification and qualification of temperature signal for monitoring and control in laser cladding

Laser cladding has been successfully introduced into industry for the use in wear and corrosion applications and in the repair work such as turbine components, moulds and dies. Through monitoring and furthermore controling the cladding process, the quality and reproducibility in the production can be ensured. Thus the economic efficiency can increase through the reduced scrap rate. The aim of this work is to identify and analyse the infrared temperature signal emitted from the melt pool, which could be used for quality control and for closed loop control. Different measure systems including a photodiode, pyrometer and CCD camera with different functional wavelengths were used to detect the temperature radiation. The detected signals show dependence on the main process parameters including laser power, powder feeding rate and scanning speed. The results of the clad such as dilution and dimension have very good correlation with the measured temperature signal. A process monitoring and control system based on the infrared temperature signal with coaxial alignment of the ancillary lenses was established and tested successfully.     

Concentration mode of the powder stream in coaxial laser cladding

The blown powder laser cladding process has recently been greatly enhanced by the development of a coaxial powder feed system. It provides a new route to generate the metal parts directly from CAD drawings. The performance of the coaxial powder feeder depends on various gas flow streams which significantly affect the distribution mode of the powder stream and the deposition rate in cladding.Two types of optical techniques have been adopted in this study to investigate the powder concentration mode of the coaxial jet streams. The mode of the powder stream is also mathematically modelled and compared to the experimental results of stainless steel powder. The Gaussian distribution mode in the transverse direction of the powder stream was identified by theory and experiment at cold stream conditions.     

Formation of cross-sectional profile of a clad bead in coaxial laser cladding

In order to determine a cross-sectional profile of a clad bead in coaxial laser cladding, its formation mechanism is investigated theoretically and experimentally. In laser cladding, every point at the back edge of a melt pool is contributed to a cross-sectional profile of the clad bead to be formed, and points at the same pool edge but on different cross sections are located at different cross-sectional profiles of the clad bead. A cross-sectional profile of a clad bead is composed of points of intersection between the cross section and a series of pool edges. Model of the cross-sectional clad profile in single-pass coaxial laser cladding is developed. A 500 W CO₂ laser is used in the experiment. The experimental result agrees well with the calculated cross-sectional clad profile.     

Effects of powder concentration distribution on fabrication of thin-wall parts in coaxial laser cladding

In this paper, model of effects of powder concentration distribution on fabrication of thin-wall parts in coaxial laser cladding was developed. There exists relationship between powder concentration distribution and power density distribution, which affects fabrication of thin-wall parts in coaxial laser cladding. Changes in powder concentration distribution lead to changes in wall thickness and wall growing rate. Fluctuation of powder feed rate deteriorates the growing wall in laser cladding. Deviation of the powder flow stream makes the powder concentration distribution, the thermal flux density and consequently the molten pool not symmetrical against the x-axis, resulting in irregular upper faces of the formed wall. This was verified by the results of experiment.