Adaptive control of coating thickness

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10976154-B2
Application number	US-201816054651-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 3, 2018
Priority date	Aug 4, 2017
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

An example method that includes receiving, by a computing device, a geometry of the component that includes a plurality of locations on a surface of the component; determining, by the computing device, a respective target thickness of the coating for each respective location of the plurality of locations based on a target coated component geometry and the geometry of the component; and determining, by the computing device, a number of passes or velocity of a coating device for each respective position of a plurality of positions to achieve the respective target thickness for each respective location.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, a geometry of a component, the geometry comprising a plurality of locations on a surface of the component;
determining, by the computing device, a respective target thickness of a coating for each respective location of the plurality of locations based on a target coated component geometry and the geometry of the component;
determining, by the computing device, a number of passes of a coating device for each position of a plurality of positions of a coating program to achieve the respective target thickness for each respective location; and
determining, by the computing device, a respective velocity of the coating device relative to the component for each respective position for each respective pass of the number of passes to achieve the respective target thickness for each respective location.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising controlling, by the computing device, the coating device based on the determined number of passes and the respective velocities.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the number of passes comprises at least a first pass and a second pass,
the respective velocities comprise at least a first velocity and a second velocity, and
at least one of the second pass or the second velocity, for a respective position is based at least in part on an amount of the coating applied at a respective location on the first pass at the first velocity.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the number of passes or the respective velocities are based on a respective spray law of a plurality of spray laws.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein each respective spray law is based on at least one of an amount of the coating applied at each respective location on one or more previous passes, the position of the coating device relative to each respective location, the orientation of the coating device relative to each respective location, a predetermined number of passes of the coating device, or a predetermined velocity of the coating device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the number of passes comprises determining, by the computing device, for each coating subroutine of a plurality of coating subroutines, a respective coating subroutine count, wherein:
the coating subroutine count indicates the number of times the coating subroutine is to be performed, and
each respective subroutine of the plurality of subroutines defines a path of travel of the coating device, a velocity of travel of the coating device, and an orientation of the coating device for coating a portion of the component.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining, for each coating subroutine of the plurality of coating subroutines, the respective coating subroutine count further comprises:
determining, by the computing device, for each respective movement of at least one respective movement within each coating subroutine, a respective velocity.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the component comprises a ceramic component or a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) component.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the number of passes or determining the respective velocity comprises reducing a value of an objective function based on at least one of an error value representing respective differences between the target coated component geometry and the geometry of the component for each location, a time to form the coating, or a total acceleration experienced by the coating device while applying the coating.

10. A method comprising:
receiving, by a computing device, a geometry of a component, the geometry comprising a plurality of locations on a surface of the component;
determining, by the computing device, a respective target thickness of a coating for each respective location of the plurality of locations based on a target coated component geometry and the geometry of the component; and
determining, by the computing device, a number of passes of a coating device for each respective position of a plurality of positions of a coating program to achieve the respective target thickness for each respective location.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Nam Tech Inc

Inventors

• Bourne Keith
• Gold Matthew R
• Sweet Marshall Louis
• Periverzov Frol
• Zimmerman Benjamin

Classifications

• G01B21/08 Primary

  for measuring thickness · CPC title

• B05B12/084

  responsive to condition of liquid or other fluent material already sprayed on the target, e.g. coating thickness, weight or pattern · CPC title

• B05B16/00

  Spray booths (arrangements for collecting, re-using or eliminating excess spraying material in spray booths B05B14/40) · CPC title

• B05B7/222

  using an arc · CPC title

• C23C4/12

  characterised by the method of spraying · CPC title