RAPID MANUFACTURING BY LASER AIDED DIRECT METAL DEPOSITION PROCESS: ISSUES AND EXAMPLES

摘要

Development of a new product takes several phases -conceptual design, assembly layouts, detail design, prototype, testing, and then production. Competitiveness hinges on reducing these phases in time for new products. Rapid prototyping (RP) and rapid production are the concept that is aimed specifically at that goal. The essence of RP and rapid production is the formation of a solid 3-D object directly from CAD dimensions. Laser aided direct metal/material deposition (LADMD) offers the ability to make a metal component directly from 3-D CAD dimensions. 3-D CAD data can be converted to machine tool code after the 3-D object is sliced down layer by layer. Repeating laser cladding pass layer by layer, a 3-D object can be formed with the help of CAD data The key of this build-up mechanism is the effective control of powder to be delivered and laser power to be irradiated into the melt-pool. Adaptive deposition associated with varied thickness deposition is more effective to build up layers quickly than uniform thickness deposition. The rational for this deposition strategy is how quickly and how soundly it can be deposited. Fabricated example parts are presented. This paper also reviews important issues regarding geometrical integrity as well as material integrity in developing LADMD process.