Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionsanlagen und Konstruktionstechnik IPK

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Characterization of Ti-6Al-4V Fabricated by Multilayer Laser Powder-Based Directed Energy Deposition

2022 , Ávila Calderón, Luis Alexander , Graf, Benjamin , Rehmer, Birgit , Petrat, Torsten , Skrotzki, Birgit , Rethmeier, Michael

Laser powder-based directed energy deposition (DED-L) is increasingly being used in additive manufacturing (AM). As AM technology, DED-L must consider specific challenges. It must achieve uniform volume growth over hundreds of layers and avoid heat buildup of the deposited material. Herein, Ti-6Al-4V is fabricated using an approach that addresses these challenges and is relevant in terms of transferability to DED-L applications in AM. The assessment of the obtained properties and the discussion of their relationship to the process conditions and resulting microstructure are presented. The quality of the manufacturing process is proven in terms of the reproducibility of properties between individual blanks and with respect to the building height. The characterization demonstrates that excellent mechanical properties are achieved at room temperature and at 400 C.

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Heat treatment of SLM-LMD hybrid components

2019 , Uhlmann, Eckart , Düchting, Jan , Petrat, Torsten , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

Additive manufacturing is no longer just used for the production of prototypes but already found its way into the industrial production. However, the fabrication of massive metallic parts with high geometrical complexity is still too time-consuming to be economically viable. The combination of the powder bed-based selective laser melting process (SLM), known for its geometrical freedom and accuracy, and the nozzle-based laser metal deposition process (LMD), known for its high build-up rates, has great potential to reduce the process duration. For the industrial application of the SLM-LMD hybrid process chain it is necessary to investigate the interaction of the processes and its effect on the material properties to guarantee part quality and prevent component failure. Therefore, hybrid components are manufactured and examined before and after the heat treatment regarding the microstructure and the hardness in the SLM-LMD transition zone. The experiments are conducted using the nickel-based alloy Inconel 718.

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Highspeed-Plasma-Laser-Cladding (HPLC) als hybrides Beschichtungsverfahren: Evaluierung des Einsatzpotentials für hohe Prozessgeschwindigkeiten

2019 , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Schreiber, Frank , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

Das Plasma-Pulver-Auftragschweißen ist ein Verfahren, dass hohe Auftragraten ermöglicht, jedoch auch eine erhöhte thermische Belastung des Bauteiles verursacht. Laser-Pulver- Auftragschweißen hingegen erreicht eine hohe Präzision und eine geringe Aufmischung, erfordert jedoch ein kostspieliges Hochleistungslasersystem und erreicht im Vergleich nur geringe Auftragraten, was zu hohen Verarbeitungskosten führt. Eine Kopplung von Laser- und Lichtbogenenergie in einer gemeinsamen Prozesszone zielt darauf ab, die jeweiligen Vorteile beider Technologien zu nutzen. Dies betrifft insbesondere die Effizienz der Wärmeausnutzung und der Nutzung des Zusatzwerkstoffs. Es wird ein Plasma-Laser-Hybrid-Prozess als Highspeed-Plasma-Laser-Cladding-Technologie (HPLC) für Beschichtungs- sowie Instandsetzungszwecke vorgestellt. Gezeigt werden Ergebnisse mit Prozessgeschwindigkeiten von 10 m/min bei Laserleistungen von 2 kW, dabei können Flächenraten von mehr als 1 m2/h erreicht werden. Effiziente Beschichtungen von großen Flächen, beispielsweise auf rotationssymmetrischen Bauteilen stellen ein relevantes Anwendungsfeld für diesen Technologieansatz dar. Die Nickelbasislegierung Inconel 625 wird als Korrosionsschutzwerkstoff eingesetzt. Im Rahmen der Verfahrensprüfung werden die hergestellten Beschichtungen einer EDX Messung unterzogen. Prozesscharakteristische Kenngrößen wie z.B. die Auftragrate werden vorgestellt und vor dem Hintergrund wirtschaftlicher Kennzahlen diskutiert. Zusätzlich werden die Aufmischung, Spurgeometrie und Wärmeeinflusszone der Spuren und Schichten ausgewertet. Im Vergleich zum Laser-Pulver-Auftragschweißen werden Spuren bei hohen Prozessgeschwindigkeiten mit einer hohen Auftragrate erzeugt.

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3D laser metal deposition: Process steps for additive manufacturing

2018 , Graf, Benjamin , Marko, Angelina , Petrat, Torsten , Gumenyuk, Andrey , Rethmeier, Michael

Laser metal deposition (LMD) is an established technology for two-dimensional surface coatings. It offers high deposition rates, high material flexibility, and the possibility to deposit material on existing components. Due to these features, LMD has been increasingly applied for additive manufacturing of 3D structures in recent years. Compared to previous coating applications, additive manufacturing of 3D structures leads to new challenges regarding LMD process knowledge. In this paper, the process steps for LMD as additive manufacturing technology are described. The experiments are conducted using titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel 718. Only the LMD nozzle is used to create a shielding gas atmosphere. This ensures the high geometric flexibility needed for additive manufacturing, although issues with the restricted size and quality of the shielding gas atmosphere arise. In the first step, the influence of process parameters on the geometric dimensions of single weld beads is analyzed based on design of experiments. In the second step, a 3D build-up strategy for cylindrical specimen with high dimensional accuracy is described. Process parameters, travel paths, and cooling periods between layers are adjusted. Tensile tests show that mechanical properties in the as-deposited condition are close to wrought material. As practical example, the fir-tree root profile of a turbine blade is manufactured. The feasibility of LMD as additive technology is evaluated based on this component.

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Entwicklung des hybriden Auftragschweißens als leistungsfähigen Beschichtungsprozess für Korrosions und Verschleißschutzschichten

2020 , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

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Numerische Simulation einer AM-Prozesskette im DED Auftragschweißen

2019 , El-Sari, Bassel , Biegler, Max , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

Das DED Auftragschweißen ist ein additives Fertigungsverfahren für Metalle, bei dem das Material schichtweise auf ein Substrat aufgetragen wird. Die schnellen Temperaturzyklen rufen Spannungsgradienten im Bauteil hervor. Der schichtweise Aufbau der Bauteile verursacht eine anisotrope Mikrostruktur. Mittels nachgelagerter Wärmebehandlung können diese Effekte verringert werden. Im anschließenden Schritt der Prozesskette wird das additiv hergestellte Bauteil mittels Drahterodieren von dem Substrat abgetrennt. In diesem Beitrag wird eine thermo-mechanische Simulation der gesamten Prozesskette vorgestellt, welche den additiven Aufbau, Wärmebehandlung und das Abtrennen vom Substrat beinhaltet. Anstelle der in der Literatur üblichen schichtweisen Modellierungsstrategie für die DED Simulation wird das gesamte Bauteil in einem Stück vernetzt und der vollständig transiente, schichtweise Materialauftrag über Elementgruppen realisiert. Im Gegensatz zu früheren Simulationen muss der nichtlineare Kontakt zwischen den Schichten nicht berücksichtigt werden, was die Rechenzeiten deutlich verkürzt. Das Modell wurde validiert mittels Abgleiches des Verzugs aus Simulation und Experiment. Die Proben, bestehend aus DIN 1.4404 (AISI 316L), wurden nach jedem Prozessschritt 3D gescannt um den Verzug zu quantifizieren. Zusätzlich wurden Querschnitte und Härtetests nach Vickers von unterschiedlich behandelten Proben durchgeführt, um den Effekt der Wärmebehandlung auf die Mikrostruktur und die Härte des Bauteils zu untersuchen.

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Build-up strategies for additive manufacturing of three dimensional Ti-6Al-4V-parts produced by laser metal deposition

2018 , Spranger, Felix , Graf, Benjamin , Schuch, Michael , Hilgenberg, Kai , Rethmeier, Michael

Laser metal deposition (LMD) has been applied as a coating technology for many years. Today, the technologies capacity to produce 3D depositions leads to a new field of application as additive manufacturing method. In this paper, 3D laser metal deposition of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4 V is studied with special regard to the demands of additive manufacturing. Therefore, only the coaxial LMD powder nozzle is used to create the shielding gas atmosphere, which ensures high geometric flexibility. Furthermore, specimen with high aspect ratio and hundreds of layers are manufactured, which represent typical features in additive manufacturing. The presented study contains the following steps: First, cylindrical specimens are manufactured with a standard shell-core build-up strategy and mechanical properties as well as fracture mechanisms are determined. Based on the results, experiments are conducted to improve the build-up strategy and new tensile test specimens are built with the improved strategy. The improved strategy incorporates variable track overlap ratios to achieve a constant growth in the shell and core area. As blanks, lean cylinders comprising more than 240 layers and a height of more than 120 mm are manufactured. The specimens are analyzed by X-ray inspection for material defects. Fractured surfaces are observed via scanning electron microscopy and the composition of the surfaces is determined using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The tensile test results prove mechanical properties close to ASTM F1108 specification for wrought material.

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Microstructure of Inconel 718 parts with constant mass energy input manufactured with direct energy deposition

2019 , Petrat, Torsten , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

The laser-based direct energy deposition (DED) as a technology for additive manufacturing allows the production of near net shape components. Industrial applications require a stable process to ensure reproducible quality. Instabilities in the manufacturing process can lead to faulty components which do not meet the required properties. The DED process is adjusted by various parameters such as laser power, velocity, powder mass flow and spot diameter, which interact with each other. A frequently used comparative parameter in welding is the energy per unit length and is calculated from the laser power and the velocity in laser welding. The powder per unit length comparative parameter in the DED process has also be considered, because this filler material absorbs energy in addition to the base material. This paper deals with the influence of mass energy as a comparative parameter for determining the properties of additively manufactured parts. The same energy per unit length of 60 J/mm as well as the same powder per unit length of 7.2 mg/mm can be adjusted with different parameter sets. The energy per unit length and the powder per unit length determine the mass energy. The laser power is varied within the experiments between 400 W and 900 W. Energy per unit length and powder per unit length are kept constant by adjusting velocity and powder mass flow. Using the example of Inconel 718, experiments are carried out with the determined parameter sets. In a first step, individual tracks are produced and analyzed by means of micro section. The geometry of the tracks shows differences in height and width. In addition, the increasing laser power leads to a higher dilution of the base material. To determine the suitability of the parameters for additive manufacturing use, the individual tracks are used to build up parts with a square base area of 20×20 mm². An investigation by Archimedean principle shows a higher porosity with lower laser power. By further analysis of the micro sections, at low laser power, connection errors occur between the tracks. The results show that laser power, velocity and powder mass flow must be considered in particular, because a constant mass energy can lead to different geometric as well as microscopic properties.

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Highspeed-plasma-laser-cladding of thin wear resistance coatings: A process approach as a hybrid metal deposition-technology

2019 , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Petrat, Torsten , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

Plasma-Transferred-Arc (PTA) welding is a process that enables high deposition rates, but also causes increased thermal load on the component. Laser metal deposition (LMD) welding, on the other hand, reaches a high level of precision and thus achieves comparatively low deposition rates, which can lead to high processing costs. Combining laser and arc energy aims to exploit the respective advantages of both technologies. In this study, a novel approach of this process combination is presented using a PTA system and a 2 kW disk laser. The energy sources are combined in a common process zone as a high-speed plasma laser cladding technology (HPLC), which achieves process speeds of 10 m/min at deposition rates of 6.6 kg/h and an energy per unit length of 39 J/mm.

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Porosity of LMD manufactured parts analyzed by Archmimedes method and CT

2018 , Marko, Angelina , Raute, Julius , Linaschke, Dorit , Graf, Benjamin , Rethmeier, Michael

Pores in additive manufactured metal parts occur due to different reasons and affect the part quality negatively. Few investigations on the origins of porosity are available, especially for Ni-based super alloys. This paper presents a new study to examine the influence of common processing parameters on the formation of pores in parts built by laser metal deposition using Inconel 718 powder. Further, a comparison between the computed tomography (CT) and the Archimedes method was made. The investigation shows that CT is able to identify different kinds of pores and to give further information about their distribution. The identification of some pores as well as their shape can be dependent on the parameter setting of the analysis tool. Due to limited measurement resolution, CT is not able to identify correctly pores with diameters smaller than 0.1 mm, which leads to a false decrease in overall porosity. The applied Archimedes method is unable to differentiate between gas porosity and other kinds of holes like internal cracks or lack of fusion, but it delivered a proper value for overall porosity. The method was able to provide suitable data for the statistical evaluation with design of experiments, which revealed significant parameters on the formation of pores in LMD.

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