Process control for laser-hybrid additive manufacture of metals

Additive manufacture (AM) of metals can produce fully-dense, near-net shape, free-form components directly from a CAD model. Wire feedstock (compared to powder) provides higher deposition rates, higher efficiency of material use, lower porosity, cheaper feed material, simpler feed mechanism and less surface roughness.

This project will provide fundamental understanding of the laser-hybrid AM process in order to introduce build-height control for the first time, thus reducing the aggregation of height errors between layers. We will also introduce simultaneous height and temperature control, and investigate whether this approach enables control of the height-to-width ratio of the deposited bead, again for the first time. Both control approaches will reduce process variation: the serial production of parts in the future will require these assurances of process reliability and output material quality, particularly for aerospace applications.

The ultimate aim of this research is to enable controlled laser-hybrid AM on a flexible platform with local shielding. Hence this project will assess the approaches and instrumentation devised against the requirements for future industrial systems.

Contact Details: 

For more information please contact Professor Andrew Moore, a.moore@hw.ac.uk.

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