Fabrication with regulated grain formation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12257642-B2
Application number	US-202016878751-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 20, 2020
Priority date	May 20, 2020
Publication date	Mar 25, 2025
Grant date	Mar 25, 2025

Abstract

A method of fabricating of an object includes causing a first heat source to heat a feed material to form a melt pool of the feed material on a surface. The method further includes causing a second heat source to heat the melt pool on the surface to regulate grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool as the melt pool cools and solidifies on the surface to form at least a portion of the object. The method also includes causing the first heat source and the second heat source to move relative to the surface as the melt pool is formed and cooled.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of fabricating an object, the method comprising:
causing a first heat source to heat a feed material to form a melt pool of the feed material on a surface;
causing a second heat source to heat the melt pool on the surface to regulate equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool as the melt pool cools and solidifies on the surface to form at least a portion of the object, wherein the second heat source comprises a laser source that directs laser light toward a portion of the melt pool and heats the melt pool by varying a frequency, an intensity, or both, of the laser light to control equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool; and
causing relative motion as the melt pool is formed and cooled, wherein the relative motion includes movement of the first and second heat sources relative to the surface, includes movement of the surface relative to the first and second heat sources, or both.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising after the melt pool solidifies, applying one or more additional layers of the feed material to at least the portion of the object, each of the one or more additional layers applied to limit cross-layer grain growth.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first heat source comprises a plasma torch and wherein causing the first heat source to heat the feed material comprises feeding a wire including the feed material into a heating region associated with the plasma torch.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the second heat source to heat the melt pool further comprises pulsing the laser light to control equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feed material comprises a metal.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feed material comprises a titanium alloy.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the feed material comprises a titanium α-β alloy.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein causing the relative motion comprises moving a print head that includes or is coupled to the first heat source, the second heat source, or both.

9. A system for fabrication of an object, the system comprising:
a first heat source to heat a feed material to form a melt pool of the feed material on a surface;
a second heat source to heat the melt pool on the surface to regulate equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool as the melt pool cools and solidifies on the surface to form at least a portion of the object, wherein the second heat source comprises a laser source to direct a laser light toward a portion of the melt pool, and wherein the second heat source is configured to heat the melt pool by varying a frequency, an intensity, or both, of the laser light to control equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool; and
a movement system to cause relative motion as the melt pool is formed and cooled, wherein the relative motion includes movement of the first and second heat sources relative to the surface, includes movement of the surface relative to the first and second heat sources, or both.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a controller to provide control signals to the second heat source, the movement system, or both, to limit formation of grains that extend across multiple layers of the object.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the first heat source comprises a plasma torch.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the second heat source comprises a pulsed laser source.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the feed material comprises a metal wire alloy.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the feed material comprises a titanium alloy.

15. The system of claim 9 , further comprising a feed system to supply the feed material to the first heat source.

16. The system of claim 9 , wherein the feed material comprises a titanium α-β alloy.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the feed material comprises Ti-6A1-4V.

18. The system of claim 9 , wherein the movement system comprises a multi-axis table.

19. The system of claim 9 , wherein the movement system is coupled to a print head, the print head coupled to the first heat source, the second heat source, or both.

20. The system of claim 9 , wherein the movement system comprises a robotic arm.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Ashmore Nathan A
• Coleman Gary W
• Griffiths David
• Mortello Michelangelo
• Scudamore Robert James
• Xu Lei

Classifications

• B23K26/0006

  taking account of the properties of the material involved (B23K26/32, B23K26/40 take precedence) · CPC title

• B33Y80/00

  Products made by additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y70/00

  Materials specially adapted for additive manufacturing · CPC title

• B33Y30/00

  Apparatus for additive manufacturing; Details thereof or accessories therefor · CPC title

• B33Y10/00

  Processes of additive manufacturing · CPC title