Evaluation of the Stability and Precision of Powder Delivery during Laser Additive Manufacturing

The fabrication of metal parts is the backbone of the modern manufacturing industry. Laser forming is combination of five common technologies: lasers, rapid prototyping (RP), computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), and powder metallurgy. The resulting process creates part by focusing an industrial laser beam on the surface of processing work piece to create a molten pool of metal. A small stream of powdered alloy is then injected into the molten pool to build up the part gradually. By moving the laser beam back and forth and tracing out a pattern determined by a CAD, the solid metal part is fabricated line by line, one layer at a time. By this method, a material having a very fine microstructure due to rapid solidification process can be produced. In the present work, a type of direct laser deposition process, called Laser Metal Deposition Shaping (LMDS), has been employed and developed to fabricate metal parts. In the LMDS process, the powder delivery system is an important component to perform the powder transport from powder storage box to powder nozzle, which supplies the raw material for the as-deposited metal parts. Consequently, the stability and precision of powder delivery during LMDS is essential to achieve the metal parts with high quality, so it is critical to evaluate the main factors closely related to the stability and precision of powder delivery. The shielding gas flow and the powder feeding rate were ascertained through experimental measure and formula calculation. The results prove that the suitable shielding gas flow and powder feeding rate can promote the stability and precision of powder delivery, which is the basis for the fabrication of as-deposited metal parts with flying colors.