Laser-stirred powder bed fusion

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11135650-B2
Application number	US-201715603620-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 24, 2017
Priority date	May 24, 2016
Publication date	Oct 5, 2021
Grant date	Oct 5, 2021

Abstract

An additive manufacturing process that includes providing a first layer of powdered material having a predetermined thickness; using a laser beam that follows a predetermined path to fuse a portion of the material in the first layer, wherein the predetermined path of the laser beam is a repeating circular or elliptical path which incrementally proceeds in a linear direction; providing a second layer of powdered material having a predetermined thickness; using a laser beam that follows a predetermined path to fuse a portion of the material in the second layer, wherein the predetermined path of the laser beam is a repeating circular or elliptical path which incrementally proceeds in a linear direction; repeating the previous steps until a complete part or component is created; and removing any unfused powdered material from the completed part or component.

First claim

What is claimed:

1. An additive manufacturing process, comprising:
(a) providing a first layer of powdered material, wherein the first layer of powdered material has a predetermined thickness;
(b) using a laser that follows a predetermined linear path across the first layer of powdered material to fuse a portion of the powdered material in the first layer, wherein the predetermined linear path of the laser creates a series of immediately adjacent curvilinear hatches or partially overlapping curvilinear hatches in the fused powdered material;
(c) providing a second layer of powdered material, wherein the second layer of powdered material has a predetermined thickness;
(d) using a laser that follows a predetermined linear path across the second layer of material to fuse a portion of the powdered material in the second layer, wherein the predetermined linear path of the laser creates a series of immediately adjacent curvilinear hatches or partially overlapping curvilinear hatches in the fused powdered material;
(e) repeating steps (a)-(d) until a complete part or component is built; and
(f) removing any unfused powdered material from the complete part or component.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the powdered material includes at least one aluminum alloy.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the powdered material includes Inconel 718, 316L stainless steel, Ti-6Al-4V, or a combination thereof.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hatches are circular.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hatches are elliptical.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the hatching alters build microstructure from that of linear hatching.

7. An additive manufacturing process, comprising:
(a) providing a first layer of powdered material, wherein the first layer of powdered material has a predetermined thickness;
(b) creating a series of immediately adjacent curvilinear hatches or partially overlapping curvilinear hatches in the first layer of powdered material using a laser beam that follows a predetermined path that proceeds incrementally in a linear direction across the first layer of powdered material to fuse a portion of the powdered material in the first layer, and wherein the predetermined path of the laser beam is a repeating oscillating path;
(c) providing a second layer of powdered material, wherein the second layer of powdered material has a predetermined thickness;
(d) creating a series of immediately adjacent curvilinear hatches or partially overlapping curvilinear hatches in the second layer of powdered material using a laser beam that follows a predetermined path that proceeds incrementally in a linear direction across the second layer of powdered material to fuse a portion of the powdered material in the second layer, and wherein the predetermined path of the laser beam is a repeating oscillating path;
(e) repeating steps (a)-(d) until a complete part or component is built; and
(f) removing any unfused powdered material from the complete part or component.

8. The process of claim 7 , further comprising creating a predetermined balance between heat input, oscillation travel speed, linear travel speed, and thermal response time of the powdered material being processed.

9. The process of claim 7 , wherein the powdered material includes at least one aluminum alloy having predetermined grain characteristics.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the process increases grain refinement in the at least one aluminum alloy.

11. The process of claim 7 , wherein the powdered material includes Inconel 718, 316L stainless steel, Ti-6Al-4V, or a combination thereof.

12. The process of claim 7 , wherein the repeating oscillating path is circular.

13. The process of claim 7 , wherein the repeating oscillating path is elliptical.

14. The process of claim 7 , wherein the frequency of the oscillating beam path is at least 7500 Hz.

15. An additive manufacturing process, comprising:
(a) providing a first layer of powdered material, wherein the first layer of powdered material has a predetermined thickness;
(b) creating a series of immediately adjacent curvilinear hatches or partially overlapping curvilinear hatches in the first layer of powdered material using a laser beam that follows a predetermined path that proceeds incrementally in a linear direction across the first layer of powdered material to fuse a portion of the powdered material in the first layer, and wherein the predetermined path of the laser beam is a repeating oscillating path that is either circular or elliptical;
(c) providing a second layer of powdered material, wherein the second layer of powdered material has a predetermined thickness;
(d) creating a series of immediately adjacent curvilinear hatches or partially overlapping curvilinear hatches in the second layer of powdered material using a laser beam that follows a predetermined path that proceeds incrementally in a linear direction across the second layer of powdered material to fuse a portion of the powdered material in the second layer, and wherein the predetermined path of the laser beam is a repeating oscillating path that is either circular or elliptical;
(e) repeating steps (a)-(d) until a complete part or component is built; and
(f) removing any unfused powdered material from the complete part or component.

16. The process of claim 15 , further comprising creating a predetermined balance between heat input, laser beam travel speed, linear travel speed, and thermal response time of the powdered material being processed.

17. The process of claim 15 , wherein the powdered material includes at least one aluminum alloy having predetermined grain characteristics.

18. The process of claim 17 , wherein the process increases grain refinement in the at least one aluminum alloy.

19. The process of claim 15 , wherein the powdered material includes Inconel 718, 316L stainless steel, Ti-6Al-4V, or a combination thereof.

20. The process of claim 17 , wherein the frequency of the circular or elliptical beam path is at least 7500 Hz.

Assignees

• Edison Welding Inst Inc

Inventors

• Foster Bryant K
• MARCHAL Jacob
• Sadek Alber
• Kelly Shawn M

Classifications

• G02B27/09 Primary

  Beam shaping, e.g. changing the cross-sectional area, not otherwise provided for {(adapting the beam shape of a laser diode G02B19/0052; adapting the beam shape of an LED G02B19/0061; coupling into light guides using intermediate optical elements G02B6/4204; beam shaping specially adapted for lasers H01S3/005)} · CPC title

• B22F10/68

  Cleaning or washing · CPC title

• B22F10/38

  to achieve specific product aspects, e.g. surface smoothness, density, porosity or hollow structures · CPC title

• B22F10/366

  Scanning parameters, e.g. hatch distance or scanning strategy · CPC title

• B22F10/28

  Powder bed fusion, e.g. selective laser melting [SLM] or electron beam melting [EBM] · CPC title