scholarly journals A new approach for automated measuring of the melt pool geometry in laser-powder bed fusion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Schmid ◽  
Johannes Krabusch ◽  
Thomas Schromm ◽  
Shi Jieqing ◽  
Stefan Ziegelmeier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Energy Input ◽  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Part Quality ◽  
Melt Pool ◽  
Process Disturbances

AbstractAdditive manufacturing (AM) offers unique possibilities in comparison to conventional manufacturing processes. For example, complex parts can be manufactured without tools. For metals, the most commonly used AM process is laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF). The L-PBF process is prone to process disturbances, hence maintaining a consistent part quality remains an important subject within current research. An established indicator for quantifying process changes is the dimension of melt pools, which depends on the energy input and the cooling conditions. The melt pool geometry is normally measured manually in cross sections of solidified welding seams. This paper introduces a new approach for the automated visual measuring of melt pools in cross-sections of parts manufactured by L-PBF. The melt pools are first segmented in the images and are then measured. Since the melt pools have a heterogeneous appearance, segmentation with common digital image processing is difficult, deep learning was applied in this project. With the presented approach, the melt pools can be measured over the whole cross section of the specimen. Furthermore, remelted melt pools, which are only partly visible, are evaluated. With this automated approach, a high number of melt pools in each cross-section can be measured, which allows the examination of trends over the build direction in a specimen and results in better statistics. Furthermore, deviations in the energy input can be estimated via the measured melt pool dimensions.

Thermal Based Process Monitoring for Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF)

2021 ◽  
Vol 1161 ◽  
pp. 123-130
Author(s):  
Dieter Tyralla ◽  
Thomas Seefeld
Keyword(s):  
Process Monitoring ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Observation System ◽  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Destructive Testing ◽  
Camera System ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Post Process ◽  
Melt Pool

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) is a frequently used manufacturing process due to its advantages in lightweight construction, design possibilities and functionalization of geometry. However, the printed parts will often have to undergo time and cost expensive non-destructive testing by sophisticated methods like X-CT. Thus, there is a strong demand to identify suitable online process monitoring techniques that allow to reduce or substitute post-process NDT effort. The temperature field reacts sensitively to deviations during processing, thus online temperature monitoring is a promising approach. In the present work a spatially resolved temperature measurement, based on 2-channel-pyrometry, is used for process monitoring in LPBF. The camera system is coaxially integrated into the beam guidance of the LPBF system. The coaxial observation enables a lateral resolution better than 10 μm over the whole build-up area of 250 x 250 mm2. Single tracks were welded with different parameters and observed by the camera system to identify thermal indicators. Metallographic cross-sections of the tracks were compared with the melt pool width measured by the online observation system. The deviation was ca. 3 %. In addition, cubes of 10 mm by 10 mm by 10 mm are built up. The melt pool area is identified as useful indicator for the process behavior and for the first time the assessment of part density is demonstrated in LPBF during process by the help of a thermal monitoring system.

Effect of laser-plume interaction on part quality in multi-scanner Laser Powder Bed Fusion

2021 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 101810
Author(s):  
Christian Tenbrock ◽  
Tobias Kelliger ◽  
Niklas Praetzsch ◽  
Marcel Ronge ◽  
Lucas Jauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Laser Plume ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Part Quality

scholarly journals Optimization of Laser Powder Bed Fusion Processing Using a Combination of Melt Pool Modeling and Design of Experiment Approaches: Density Control

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morgan Letenneur ◽  
Alena Kreitcberg ◽  
Vladimir Brailovski
Keyword(s):  
Scanning Speed ◽  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Density Prediction ◽  
Melt Pool ◽  
Density Control ◽  
Pool Model ◽  
Conventional Material ◽  
Prediction Approach

A simplified analytical model of the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process was used to develop a novel density prediction approach that can be adapted for any given powder feedstock and LPBF system. First, calibration coupons were built using IN625, Ti64 and Fe powders and a specific LPBF system. These coupons were manufactured using the predetermined ranges of laser power, scanning speed, hatching space, and layer thickness, and their densities were measured using conventional material characterization techniques. Next, a simplified melt pool model was used to calculate the melt pool dimensions for the selected sets of printing parameters. Both sets of data were then combined to predict the density of printed parts. This approach was additionally validated using the literature data on AlSi10Mg and 316L alloys, thus demonstrating that it can reliably be used to optimize the laser powder bed metal fusion process.

scholarly journals Influence of Laser Energy Input and Shielding Gas Flow on Evaporation Fume during Laser Powder Bed Fusion of Zn Metal

Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (10) ◽  
pp. 2677
Author(s):  
Yu Qin ◽  
Jinge Liu ◽  
Yanzhe Chen ◽  
Peng Wen ◽  
Yufeng Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Input ◽  
Gas Flow ◽  
Evaporation Rate ◽  
Laser Energy ◽  
Circulation System ◽  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Shielding Gas ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Conservation Of Energy ◽  
Powder Bed

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of Zn-based metals exhibits prominent advantages to produce customized biodegradable implants. However, massive evaporation occurs during laser melting of Zn so that it becomes a critical issue to modulate laser energy input and gas shielding conditions to eliminate the negative effect of evaporation fume during the LPBF process. In this research, two numerical models were established to simulate the interaction between the scanning laser and Zn metal as well as the interaction between the shielding gas flow and the evaporation fume, respectively. The first model predicted the evaporation rate under different laser energy input by taking the effect of evaporation on the conservation of energy, momentum, and mass into consideration. With the evaporation rate as the input, the second model predicted the elimination effect of evaporation fume under different conditions of shielding gas flow by taking the effect of the gas circulation system including geometrical design and flow rate. In the case involving an adequate laser energy input and an optimized shielding gas flow, the evaporation fume was efficiently removed from the processing chamber during the LPBF process. Furthermore, the influence of evaporation on surface quality densification was discussed by comparing LPBF of pure Zn and a Titanium alloy. The established numerical analysis not only helps to find the adequate laser energy input and the optimized shielding gas flow for the LPBF of Zn based metal, but is also beneficial to understand the influence of evaporation on the LPBF process.

A Physics-Informed Two-Level Machine Learning Model for Predicting Melt-Pool Size in Laser Powder Bed Fusion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Ren ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Panagiotis (Pan) Michaleris
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Initial Temperature ◽  
Pool Size ◽  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Melt Pool ◽  
Input Feature ◽  
Melt Pool Size ◽  
Melt Pool Characteristics

Abstract Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) additive manufacturing (AM) is one type of metal-based AM process that is capable of producing high-value complex components with a fine geometric resolution. As melt-pool characteristics such as melt-pool size and dimensions are highly correlated with porosity and defects in the fabricated parts, it is crucial to predict how process parameters would affect the melt-pool size and dimensions during the build process to ensure the build quality. This paper presents a two-level machine learning (ML) model to predict the melt-pool size during the scanning of a multi-track build. To account for the effect of thermal history on melt-pool size, a so-called (pre-scan) initial temperature is predicted at the lower-level of the modeling architecture, and then used as a physics-informed input feature at the upper-level for the prediction of melt-pool size. Simulated data sets generated from the Autodesk's Netfabb Simulation are used for model training and validation. Through numerical simulations, the proposed two-level ML model has demonstrated a high prediction performance and its prediction accuracy improves significantly compared to a naive one-level ML without using the initial temperature as an input feature.

Measurement of the Melt Pool Length During Single Scan Tracks in a Commercial Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Heigel ◽  
B. M. Lane
Keyword(s):  
Laser Power ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Infrared Camera ◽  
Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Single Track ◽  
Laser Powder Bed Fusion ◽  
Powder Bed ◽  
Melt Pool ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Scan Speed

This work presents high speed thermographic measurements of the melt pool length during single track laser scans on nickel alloy 625 substrates. Scans are made using a commercial laser powder bed fusion machine while measurements of the radiation from the surface are made using a high speed (1800 frames per second) infrared camera. The melt pool length measurement is based on the detection of the liquidus-solidus transition that is evident in the temperature profile. Seven different combinations of programmed laser power (49 W to 195 W) and scan speed (200 mm/s to 800 mm/s) are investigated and numerous replications using a variety of scan lengths (4 mm to 12 mm) are performed. Results show that the melt pool length reaches steady state within 2 mm of the start of each scan. Melt pool length increases with laser power, but its relationship with scan speed is less obvious because there is no significant difference between cases performed at the highest laser power of 195 W. Although keyholing appears to affect the anticipated trends in melt pool length, further research is required.

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