Abstract
Laser solid forming (LSF) is a promising additive manufacturing technology. Powder flow plays an important role during the LSF process. In this study, based on the flux balance and the introduction of specific parameters, a practical model was developed to simulate the powder flow of the discontinuous coaxial nozzle with four symmetrical tips. The observation experiments of powder feed process were carried out, and the specific powder flow parameters and the powder flow feed behavior were obtained. It can be found that the simulations of the powder flow agreed well with the experimental measurements due to the introduction of specific powder flow parameters. In addition, it can be also found that the peak value of the powder mass concentration is above the theoretical focus position of the powder flow. Further, the analysis model was used for the calculation of the deposition layer height. It was showed that the deposition layer size varied significantly with the distance between the deposited surface and the nozzle exit plane due to the variation of the powder mass concentration. It can be concluded that the analysis model of powder flow has potential use for building the deposition layer formation model to analyze the LSF process.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Liu ZY, Qi H (2015) Effects of processing parameters on crystal growth and microstructure formation in laser powder deposition of single-crystal superalloy. J Mater Process Technol 216:19–27
Sun GF, Zhou R, Lu JZ, Mazumder J (2015) Evaluation of defect density, microstructure, residual stress, elastic modulus, hardness and strength of laser-deposited AISI 4340 steel. Acta Mater 84:172–189
de Lima MSF, Sankaré S (2014) Microstructure and mechanical behavior of laser additive manufactured AISI 316 stainless steel stringers. Mater Des 55:526–532
Amine T, Newkirk JW, Liou F (2014) Numerical simulation of the thermal history multiple laser deposited layers. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 73:1625–1631
Nie P, Ojo OA, Li ZG (2014) Numerical modeling of microstructure evolution during laser additive manufacturing of a nickel-based superalloy. Acta Mater 77:85–95
Tabernero I, Lamikiz A, Ukar E, Martínez S, Celaya A (2014) Modeling of the geometry built-up by coaxial laser material deposition process. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 70:843–851
Pi G, Zhang AF, Zhu GX, Li DC, Lu BH (2011) Research on the forming process of three-dimensional metal parts fabricated by laser direct metal forming. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 57:841–847
Paul CP, Mishra SK, Kumar A, Kukreja LM (2013) Laser rapid manufacturing on vertical surfaces: analytical and experimental studies. Surf Coat Technol 224:18–28
ElCheikh H, Courant B, Branchu S, Hascoet JY, Guillen R (2012) Analysis and prediction of single laser tracks geometrical characteristics in coaxial laser cladding process. Opt Laser Eng 50:413–422
He XL, Song LJ, Yu G, Mazumder J (2011) Solute transport and composition profile during direct metal deposition with coaxial powder injection. App Sur Sci 258:898–907
Fallah V, Alimardani M, Corbin SF, Khajepour A (2011) Temporal development of melt-pool morphology and clad geometry in laser powder deposition. Comp Mater Sci 50:2124–2134
Yang N (2009) Concentration model based on movement model of powder flow in coaxial laser cladding. Opt Laser Technol 41:94–98
Pan H, Sparks T, Thakar YD (2006) The investigation of gravity-driven metal powder flow in coaxial nozzle for laser-aided direct metal deposition process. J Manuf Sci Eng 128(2):541–553
Zekovic S, Dwivedi R, Kovacevic R (2007) Numerical simulation and experimental investigation of gas-powder flow from radially symmetrical nozzles in laser-based direct metal deposition. Int J Mach Tool Manuf 47(1):112–123
Wen SY, Shin YC, Murthy JY, Sojka PE (2009) Modeling of coaxial powder flow for the laser direct deposition process. Int J Heat Mass Transf 52:5867–5877
Tabernero I, Lamikiz A, Ukar E, de Lacalle LNL, Angulo C, Urbikain G (2010) Numerical simulation and experimental validation of powder flux distribution in coaxial laser cladding. J Mater Process Technol 210:2125–2134
Zhang AF, Li DC, Zhou ZM, Zhu GX, Lu BH (2010) Numerical simulation of powder flow field on coaxial powder nozzle in laser metal direct manufacturing. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 49:853–859
Tan H, Zhang FY, Chen J, Lin X, Huang WD (2012) Experiment study of powder flow feed behavior of laser solid forming. Opt Lasers Eng 50(3):391–398
Abramovich GN, Schindel L (2003) The theory of turbulent jets. MIT Press
Tan H, Chen J, Zhang FY, Lin X, Huang WD (2010) Estimation of laser solid forming process based on temperature measurement. Opt Laser Technol 42:47–54
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tan, H., Zhang, F., Fu, X. et al. Development of powder flow model of laser solid forming by analysis method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 82, 1421–1431 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-7481-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-015-7481-8