Combining wire and coaxial powder feeding in laser direct metal deposition for rapid prototyping

Powder and wire deposition have been used separately in many laser-cladding, rapid prototyping and other additive manufacturing applications. In this paper, a new approach is investigated by simultaneously feeding powder from a coaxial nozzle and wire from an off-axis nozzle into the deposition melt pool. Multilayer parts are built from 316L steel using a 1.5 kW diode laser and different configurations of the powder and wire nozzles are compared in terms of surface roughness, deposition rate, porosity and microstructure. The parts are analysed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical microscopy techniques. Results show that deposition efficiency increased and surface roughness decreased with the combined process; some porosity was present in samples produced by this method, but it was 20-30% less than in samples produced by powder alone. Wire injection angles into the melt pool in both horizontal and vertical planes were found to be significant for attaining high deposition efficiency and good surface quality. Reasons for the final sample characteristics and differences between the combined process and the separate powder and wire feeding techniques are discussed.     

Single-step laser deposition of functionally graded coating by dual ‘wire-powder’ or ‘powder-powder’ feeding—A comparative study

The creation of iron-copper (Fe-Cu) alloys has practical application in improving the surface heat conduction and corrosion resistance of, for example, conformal cooling channels in steel moulds, but is difficult to achieve because the elements have got low inter-solubility and are prone to solidification cracking. Previous work by these authors has reported a method to produce a graded iron-nickel-copper coating in a single-step by direct diode laser deposition (DLD) of nickel wire and copper powder as a combined feedstock. This work investigates whether dual powder feeds can be used in that process to afford greater geometric flexibility and compares attributes of the ‘nickel wire and copper powder’ and ‘nickel powder and copper powder’ processes for deposition on a H13 tool steel substrate.In wire-powder deposition, a higher temperature developed in the melt pool causing a clad with a smooth gradient structure. The nickel powder in powder-powder deposition did not impart much heat into the melt pool so the melt pool solidified with sharp composition boundaries due to single metal melting in some parts. In wire-powder experiments, a graded structure was obtained by varying the flow rates of wire and powder. However, a graded structure was not realised in powder-powder experiments by varying either the feed or the directions. Reasons for the differences and flow patterns in the melt pools and their effect on final part properties of parts produced are discussed.     

3-D finite element modeling of laser cladding by powder injection: effects of laser pulse shaping on the process

This paper introduces a 3-D transient finite element model of laser cladding by powder injection to investigate the effects of laser pulse shaping on the process. The proposed model can predict the clad geometry as a function of time and process parameters including laser pulse shaping, travel velocity, laser pulse energy, powder jet geometry, and material properties. In the proposed strategy, the interaction between powder and melt pool is assumed to be decoupled and as a result, the melt pool boundary is first obtained in the absence of powder spray. Once the melt pool boundary is obtained, it is assumed that a layer of coating material is deposited on the intersection of the melt pool and powder stream in the absence of the laser beam in which its thickness is calculated based on the powder feedrate and elapsed time. The new melt pool boundary is then calculated by thermal analysis of the deposited powder layer, substrate and laser heat flux. The process is simulated for different laser pulse frequencies and energies. The results are presented and compared with experimental data. The quality of clad bead for different parameter sets is experimentally evaluated and shown as a function of effective powder deposition density and effective energy density. The comparisons show excellent agreement between the modeling and experimental results for cases in which a high quality clad bead is expected.     

Determination of geometrical factors in Layerwise Laser Melting using optical process monitoring

Layerwise Laser Melting (LLM) is a layerwise production technique enabling the production of complex metallic parts. In the process a thin layer of powder is first deposited on a base plate. With the energy of a scanning laser beam this layer is melted at selected places, according to a predefined scanning pattern. After scanning, a new layer of powder is deposited on top of the previous layer and selectively melted. This sequence of depositing and scanning is repeated until the complete part is built. The local geometry surrounding the melt pool has a large influence on the processing behavior. For process control issues, this influence must be known and quantified, in order to determine a priori optimal processing conditions and to interpret measured melt pool radiation. In order to study the melt pool behavior, optical process monitoring of LLM has been applied using a high speed near-infrared CMOS camera and a large area silicon photodiode sensor. Data processing rates up to 10 kHz and real-time process monitoring are achieved using image and signal processing on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Several case studies will be presented showing that the geometric influencing factors can be studied and quantified by analyzing the melt pool sensor output.     

电子束辐照下的注氘铝的结构变化

利用离子加速器在室温下对纯铝注入氘离子或氢离子,然后在透射电镜中对注氘铝或注氢铝中的气泡进行电子束辐照,发现在电子束辐照下气泡会长大、破裂.随着气泡的变化,选区电子衍射花样中出现了表示多晶存在的衍射环.这表明电子束辐照气泡时,发生某种放热现象,从而使附近的铝先熔化后再凝固,由单晶变为多晶.     

Study on cross-section clad profile in coaxial single-pass cladding with a low-power laser

In this paper, a model of cross-section clad profile on the substrate in coaxial single-pass cladding with a low-power laser was studied. The static model of powder mass concentration distribution at cold-stream conditions was defined as a Gaussian function. In coaxial single-pass cladding with a low-power laser, since the influence of surface tension, gravity and gas flow on the clad bead could be neglected, the cross-section profile of the clad bead deposited by a low-power laser on the substrate was dominated by the powder concentration at each point on the pool and the time when the material was liquid at this point. The height of each point on the cross-section clad profile was defined as a definite integration of a Gaussian function from the moment at which the melt pool was just arriving at the point to the moment at which the point left the melt pool. In the presented experiment, powder of Steel 63 (at 0.63 wt% C) was deposited on a substrate of Steel 20 (at 0.20 wt% C) at the laser power of 135 W. The experimental results testified the model.     

不同焊接位置对5A90铝锂合金激光焊接质量的影响(英)

针对铝锂合金激光焊接产生的成形不良和气孔缺陷,探究不同焊接位置对焊缝成形及气孔的影响,并对比分析不同焊接位置熔池受力状态、熔融金属流动和小孔动态行为,解释缺陷形成及其抑制机理。研究发现:不同焊接位置熔池受力状态和熔融金属流动决定焊缝成形。平焊时焊缝成形差、下榻严重;横焊时背面焊缝不连续,有飞溅;立向上焊时背面焊缝内凹严重;立向下焊可得到最优焊缝成形和最优的气孔缺陷。焊缝气孔受小孔动态行为影响,不同焊接位置气孔随热输入的变化规律一致,气孔先增后减,在仅熔池透状态下有气孔最大值。立上焊时小孔不稳定,焊缝气孔多且分布杂乱;立向下焊时小孔稳定性高,气孔最少,主要分布在焊缝中心线上。     

Process monitoring of powder pre-paste laser surface alloying

Instead of the continuous powder delivery method using a powder feeder for thick layer laser cladding, pre-pasting of the alloying powder on the substrate is a widely used method to supply the coating powders into the melt pool for LSA. A method to monitor the process of laser surface alloying based on the infrared emission from the melt pool using infrared photodiodes was developed. The technique is solely aimed at the process of laser surface alloying using pre-paste metal powder on the substrate surface prior to laser melting. This monitoring technique is able to distinguish the existence or the absence of the pre-paste powder and the consistency of the laser surface alloying process. The technique is of low cost and is simple to implement into the process.     

Nanoporous surfaces via impact of molten metallic droplets

Here we describe a new pathway for the production of nanoporous surfaces, by recourse to molten droplet impact and solidification. The nanopores in this case are frozen in bubbles that nucleate in the melt due to gas supersaturation within 100 nanoseconds of impact. Initial observations and previous analysis are presented, as well as ongoing work to control or pattern porosity via process variation and substrate pre-treatment. This method is presumably not limited in material, and has potential to create large area, functional surfaces.     

A novel flotation technique combining carrier flotation and cavitation bubbles to enhance separation efficiency of ultra-fine particles

In this paper, a novel flotation technique that combines nano-scale bubbles generated by hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) and carrier flotation is proposed to promote the flotation efficiency of a high-ash (43%) ultra-fine coal sample (<45 µm). We investigated the mechanism by which cavitation bubbles enhance the separation efficiency of carrier flotation using focused beam reflectance measurements, polarizing microscopy, and extended Derjaguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek theory. The carrier particles (polystyrene (PS)) and fine coal were pre-treated in a venturi tube and then floated in a laboratory mechanical flotation cell. The flotation results indicate that the presence of cavitation bubbles significantly improved the carrier flotation performance of high-ash ultra-fine coal. This improvement was attributed to the presence of highly hydrophobic PS, which creates additional gas nuclei in the flotation system. The nano-bubbles, which were produced by the venturi tube and adhered to the fine coal particle surfaces, were conducive to the agglomeration of fine coal particles into large aggregates. Moreover, the nano-bubbles functioned as “bridges” of interaction between the carrier particles and large aggregates of fine coal particles. This paper mainly focused on the effect of carrier (PS) and HC on high-ash fine coal. The influence of different HC intensities on carrier (PS) flotation was discussed. Two models for the interactions between the coal particles, nano-bubbles, and PS during cavitation were proposed and were proved using the E-DLVO theory.     

The influence of laser and powder defocusing characteristics on the surface quality in laser direct metal deposition

To investigate the influencing rules of the variations of powder and laser defocusing distance on surface quality and obtain the smooth surface of parts in laser direct metal deposition, the thin-walled metal parts were fabricated under three different powder defocusing distances and three different laser defocusing distances conditions. The experimental results show that a high surface quality can be obtained with the powder focussed below the substrate and laser focussed above the substrate process, and the variation in which the powder focus moves from above to below the melt pool plays a leading role and the variation in which the laser focus moves from above to below the melt pool plays a supplementary role in the influence on the surface quality. To explain the experimental results, a simple model of the track height is established.     

CO2 laser heating of surfaces: Melt pool formation at surface

The melt pool formation during the heating of titanium and steel surfaces by a moving CO₂ laser beam is examined. The repetitive pulses are introduced in the simulations and the Marangoni effect in the melt pool is incorporated in the model study. The influence of laser scanning speed and the laser intensity parameter on the melt pool size is also considered. The enthalpy–porosity method is adopted to account for the phase change in the irradiated spot. It is found that the influence of laser scanning speed on the melt pool size is considerable, which is more pronounced for laser beam parameter β=1. The melt pool size is smaller for stainless steel as compared to that corresponding to titanium.     

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.     

电极感应熔化气雾化制粉技术中非限制式喷嘴雾化过程模拟

电极感应熔化气雾化(electrode induction melting gas atomization, EIGA)是一种制备超洁净无夹杂物的先进制粉技术,本文以粉末高温合金的氩气雾化过程为研究示例,对现有用于实际生产的国内某厂家提供的EIGA用非限制式喷嘴进行建模,采用商用计算流体力学软件FLUENT,分布采用欧拉-欧拉VOF(volume of fluid)多相流方法与欧拉-拉格朗日DPM (discrete phase model)离散相方法,对非限制式环缝喷嘴主雾化与二次雾化过程进行了数值模拟.通过对主雾化过程中多相流大涡模拟速度流场,主雾化过程中不同阶段高温熔体云图模拟以及二次雾化过程中TAB (Taylor analogy breakup)模型速度流场及TAB模型粒度分布的模拟研究,实现了对EIGA制粉技术中非限制式喷嘴雾化过程的全过程模拟,并预测了雾化后的粉末粒度分布.在此基础上,采用本文模拟使用的非限制式环缝喷嘴,设定与模拟条件一致(进气压力4 MPa,液流直径约4 mm)的实验条件,制备的粉末大部分颗粒的直径大小在100μm左右,该实验结果与模拟得到的粉末直径D50=100μm大小一致,进一步验证了模拟数据的合理性.该方法也适用于非限制式喷嘴里,其他金属或合金的雾化过的模拟研究.     

Effects of radiator shapes on the bubble diving and dispersion of ultrasonic argon process

In this work, three ultrasonic radiators in different shapes have been designed in order to investigate the effects of radiator shapes on the argon bubble dispersion and diving as well as the degassing efficiency on magnesium melt. The radiator shape has a strong influence on the bubble diving and dispersion by ultrasound. A massive argon bubble slowly flows out from the radiator with the hemispherical cap, due to the covering hemispherical cap. Using a concave radiator can intensively crush the argon bubbles and drive them much deep into the water/melt, depending on the competition between the argon flow and opposite joint shear force from the concave surface. The evolution of wall bubbles involves the ultrasonic cavities carrying dissolved gas, migrating to the vessel wall, and escaping from the liquid. Hydrogen removal can be efficiently achieved using a concave radiator. The hydrogen content can be reduced from 22.3 μg/g down to 8.7 μg/g. Mechanical properties are significantly promoted, due to the structure refinement and efficient hydrogen removal.     

Laser produced melt pool: Influence of laser intensity parameter on flow field in melt pool

The flow field developed in the laser produced melt pool is investigated and the influence of the Marangoni effect on temperature field is examined. The experiment is carried out to trace the solidified melt pool geometry and the heating is simulated in line with the experimental conditions to predict the melt size in the irradiated region. In the simulations, the control volume approach is used incorporating the Marangoni effect. The enthalpy-porosity method is adopted to account for the phase change in the irradiated region. The study is extended to include the influence of the laser intensity parameter (β) on temperature and the flow field in the melt pool. It is found that the melt pool geometry and the flow field in the melt pool is influenced by the laser intensity parameter. In this case, the number of circulation cell formed in the melt pool is doubled for the intensity parameter 0.4≤β≤0.6. The predictions of the melt pool geometry agree well with the experimental data.     

Multi-bubble motion behavior of uniform magnetic field based on phase field model

Aiming at the interaction and coalescence of bubbles in gas–liquid two-phase flow, a multi-field coupling model was established to simulate deformation and dynamics of multi-bubble in gas–liquid two-phase flow by coupling magnetic field, phase field, continuity equation, and momentum equation. Using the phase field method to capture the interface of two phases, the geometric deformation and dynamics of a pair of coaxial vertical rising bubbles under the applied uniform magnetic field in the vertical direction were investigated. The correctness of results is verified by mass conservation method and the comparison of the existing results. The results show that the applied uniform magnetic field can effectively shorten the distance between the leading bubble and the trailing bubble, the time of bubbles coalescence, and increase the velocity of bubbles coalescence. Within a certain range, as the intensity of the applied uniform magnetic field increases, the velocity of bubbles coalescence is proportional to the intensity of the magnetic field, and the time of bubbles coalescence is inversely proportional to the intensity of the magnetic field.     

Bubble Velocity and Size Measurement with a Four‐Point Optical Fiber Probe

The possibility to measure the velocity and size of individual bubbles in a high‐void fraction bubbly flow is investigated by using a four‐point optical fiber probe. The air bubbles have an initial spherical equivalent diameter ranging from 4 to 10 mm and the void fraction is up to 0.3. Firstly, single bubble experiments show that intrusiveness effects, i.e. bubble deformations due to the probe, are negligible provided that the bubble approaches the probe at the axis of the central fiber. A selection criterion is utilized for multiple bubble experiments. A good compromise can be found between the required accuracy, the duration of the measurements and the number of validated bubbles required for reliable statistical averaging. In an air‐water high‐void fraction vertical bubbly pipe flow, the void fraction obtained with the instrument is found to be in good agreement with both local single‐fiber probe measurements, and with the volume average void fraction obtained from pressure gradient measurements. The area average volumetric gas flow rate, based on the bubble velocity and void fraction as measured with the four‐point probe, agree with the measured gas flow rate. Also, the liquid velocity is measured by means of a laser‐Doppler anemometer, to investigate the slip velocity. The results show that reliable and interesting measurements can be obtained by using a four‐point optical fiber probe in high void fraction flows.     

Radial oscillation and translational motion of a gas bubble in a micro-cavity

According to classical nucleation theory, a gas nucleus can grow into a cavitation bubble when the ambient pressure is negative. Here, the growth process of a gas nucleus in a micro-cavity was simplified to two “events”, and the full confinement effect of the surrounding medium of the cavity was considered by including the bulk modulus in the equation of state. The Rayleigh–Plesset-like equation of the cavitation bubble in the cavity was derived to model the radial oscillation and translational motion of the cavitation bubble in the local acoustic field. The numerical results show that the nucleation time of the cavitation bubble is sensitive to the initial position of the gas nucleus. The cavity size affects the duration of the radial oscillation of the cavitation bubble, where the duration is shorter for smaller cavities. The equilibrium radius of a cavitation bubble grown from a gas nucleus increases with increasing size of the cavity. There are two possible types of translational motion: reciprocal motion around the center of the cavity and motion toward the cavity wall. The growth process of gas nuclei into cavitation bubbles is also dependent on the compressibility of the surrounding medium and the magnitude of the negative pressure. Therefore, gas nuclei in a liquid cavity can be excited by acoustic waves to form cavitation bubbles, and the translational motion of the cavitation bubbles can be easily observed owing to the confining influence of the medium outside the cavity.     

铝中气泡在电子束辐照下的异常放热现象

在室温下,利用离子加速器对纯铝透射样品分别注入He⁺,Ne⁺和Ar⁺三种惰性气体离子,通过透射电子显微镜原位观察分析了纯铝中三种气体气泡在电子束辐照下形貌及电子衍射花样的变化.实验表明,在200 keV电子束辐照下,三种惰性气体气泡均会合并长大,亮度逐渐增强,最终破裂,气泡内部产生许多约几个纳米的黑色斑点衬度像,选区电子衍射花样由单晶斑点衍射花样变为多晶衍射环.这一现象的原因可能是气泡在电子束辐照过程中发生了放热反应,使气泡附近铝熔化后再结晶产生多晶,从而在电子衍射花样中观察到了多晶衍射环.然而,氦气泡在80 keV电子束辐照下氦气泡形貌和选区电子衍射花样保持不变,辐照后衍射花样中无多晶衍射环产生;氦氩混合气体气泡在200 keV电子束辐照下气泡形貌和选区电子衍射花样同样保持不变;这可能与电子束能量和气泡内气体压力有关.