Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten
The advantage of selective laser melting (SLM) is its high accuracy and geometrical flexibility.
Because the maximum size of the components is limited by the process chamber, possibilities must be found to combine several parts manufactured by SLM. An application where this is necessary, is, for example, the components of gas turbines, such as burners or oil return pipes, and inserts, which can be joined by circumferential welds. However, only a few investigations to date have been carried out for the welding of components produced by SLM. The object of this paper is, therefore, to investigate the feasibility of laser beam welding for joining SLM tube connections made of nickel-based alloys.
For this purpose, SLM-manufactured Inconel 625 and Inconel 718 tubes were welded with a Yb:YAG disk laser and subsequently examined for residual stresses and defects. The results showed that the welds had no significant influence on the residual stresses. A good weld quality could be achieved in the seam circumference. However, pores and pore nests were found in the final overlap area, which meant that no continuous good welding quality could be accomplished. Pore formation was presumably caused by capillary instabilities when the laser power was ramped out.
Maintenance, repair and overhaul of components are of increasing interest for parts of high complexity and expensive manufacturing costs. In this paper a production process for laser metal deposition is presented, and used to repair a gas turbine burner of Inconel 718. Different parameters for defined track geometries were determined to attain a near net shape deposition with consistent build-up rate for changing wall thicknesses over the manufacturing process. Spot diameter, powder feed rate, welding velocity and laser power were changed as main parameters for a different track size. An optimal overlap rate for a constant layer height was used to calculate the best track size for a fitting layer width similar to the part dimension. Deviations in width and height over the whole build-up process were detected and customized build-up strategies for the 3D sequences were designed. The results show the possibility of a near net shape repair by using different track geometries with laser metal deposition.
Metal additive manufacturing is often based on laser beam processes like Laser Metal Fusion (LMF) or Laser Metal Deposition (LMD). The LMF process is in particular suitable for very complex geometries. However build rate, part volume and material flexibility are limited in LMF. In contrast, LMD achieves higher deposition rates, less restricted part sizes and the possibility to change the material composition during the build-up process. On the other hand, due to the lower spatial precision of the material deposition process, the complexity of geometries is limited. Therefore, combined manufacturing with both LMF and LMD has the potential to utilize the respective advantages of both technologies.
In this paper, combined additive manufacturing with LMF and LMD is described for Ti-6Al-4V and Inconel 718. First, lattice structures with different wall thickness and void sizes are built with LMF. The influence of LMD material deposition on these LMF-structures is examined regarding metallurgical impact and distortion. Cross-sections, x-ray computer tomography and 3D-scanning results are shown.
For the titanium alloy specimen, oxygen and Nitrogen content in the deposited material are analysed to evaluate the LMD shielding gas atmosphere. The results are used to develop guidelines for a LMD build-up strategy on LMF substrates. With these findings, a gas turbine burner is manufactured as reality test for the combined approach.
Der Einsatz von Hochleistungswerkstoffen verlangt nach einer hohen Endformnähe der zu fertigenden Bauteile, um den Aufwand und somit die Kosten für Materialeinsatz und Nachbearbeitung möglichst gering zu halten. Der additive Einsatz in Form des Laser-Pulver-Auftragschweißens bietet hierfür durch den gezielten Materialauftrag ein hohes Potential. Herausforderungen bestehen in Bereichen der Vorhersagbarkeit und der Reproduzierbarkeit des Materialauftrages, sowie der Fertigungszeit. Unterschiedliche Einflüsse bei der Schichterzeugung führen dabei zu Abweichungen von der Soll-Geometrie. Die vorliegenden Untersuchungen behandeln den Einfluss von Spurgeometrie, Spurüberlappung, Verfahrweg und Aufbaureihenfolge auf die entstehende Bauteilform. Die Teilung einer Lage in Rand- und Kernbereich ermöglicht einen konturangepassten Verfahrweg und eine Erhöhung der Endformnähe innerhalb einer Ebene. Die Verwendung unterschiedlicher Spurgrößen bei der Bauteilerzeugung verdeutlicht die Möglichkeiten einer hohen Auftragsrate bei gleichzeitig hoher Formgenauigkeit. Bereits kleine Unterschiede beim Materialauftrag zwischen Kern- und Randbereichen, Start- und Endpunkten sowie in Bereichen des Richtungswechsels führen aufgrund von Fehlerfortpflanzung nachmehreren Lagen zu Abweichungen in der Aufbaurichtung. Kompensierungen mittels angepasster Baustrategien werden aufgezeigt und diskutiert. Die Nickelbasislegierung Inconel 718, die Titanlegierung Ti-6Al-4V sowie der austenitische Stahl 316L sind Bestandteil der vorliegenden Untersuchungen. Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse verdeutlichen das Potenzial einer angepassten Aufbaustrategie zur reproduzierbaren Erzeugung von Bauteilen am Beispiel unterschiedlicher Körpergeometrien.