Hybrid approaches for reducing defects in laser-based direct energy deposition of nickel-based superalloys

Due to their outstanding high temperature properties, nickel-based superalloys are among the key materials in the energy and aerospace sector. With increasing importance of the additive manufacturing technology, direct energy deposition (DED) for industrial applications, such as the repair of turbine blades, DED of nickel-based superalloys has become a research field of high relevance.
However, the formation of defects in fabricated components (e.g. solidification cracking) is impeding the industrial transfer. Within this contribution the combination of DED with additional physical effects (hybrid DED) such as inductive heating or static and dynamic magnetic fields and their impact on crack mitigation is presented. The described approaches were examined based on studies on DED of crack-prone alloys such as Mar-M-247 and Ni-SA 247 LC. The results show the potential but also the limitations of hybrid DED depending on material and process specific challenges.