Mass and heat flow in additive manufacturing systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12472559-B2
Application number	US-202217934410-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 22, 2022
Priority date	Sep 23, 2021
Publication date	Nov 18, 2025
Grant date	Nov 18, 2025

Abstract

An additive manufacturing system may include an energy delivery device configured to deliver energy to a build surface of a component to form a melt pool in the build surface of the component; a powder delivery device configured to direct a powder stream toward the melt pool; a plurality of mass sensors, each mass sensor associated with a portion of the additive manufacturing system; a plurality of heat sensors; and one or more computing devices. The computing device(s) are configured to receive data from the plurality of mass sensors; determine an overall mass flux based on the data from the mass sensors; control the powder delivery device based on the overall mass flux; receive data from the plurality of heat sensors; determine an overall heat flux based on the data from the heat sensors; and control the energy delivery device based on the overall heat flux.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An additive manufacturing system comprising:
an energy delivery device configured to deliver energy to a build surface of a component to form a melt pool in the build surface of the component; a powder delivery device configured to direct a powder stream toward the melt pool along a longitudinal axis; a plurality of mass sensors, each mass sensor associated with a portion of the additive manufacturing system, wherein the plurality of mass sensors comprises a topology sensor configured to measure a topology of material added to the melt pool; a plurality of heat sensors; and one or more computing devices configured to:
receive data from the plurality of mass sensors, wherein the data includes the topology of the material added to the melt pool;
determine an overall mass flux based on the data from the plurality of mass sensors;
control the powder delivery device based on the overall mass flux;
receive data from the plurality of heat sensors;
determine a mass of powder added to the melt pool based on the topology of the material added to the melt pool and a density of the powder;
determine a capture efficiency by dividing at least one of:
the mass of powder added to the melt pool by a mass of powder leaving the powder delivery device; or
a mass rate of powder added to the melt pool by a mass flow rate of powder leaving the powder delivery device;

determine an overall heat flux based on the data from the plurality of heat sensors and the capture efficiency; and
control the energy delivery device based on the overall heat flux.

2 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of mass sensors comprise a powder flow monitoring system comprising:
an illumination device configured to illuminate at least some powder of the powder stream between the powder delivery device and the build surface; and an imaging device configured to image the illuminated powder at an image plane that intersects the longitudinal axis, and wherein the one or more computing devices is configured to determine a mass flow rate of powder from the powder delivery device using data from the powder flow monitoring system.

3 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of mass sensors comprise a powder source mass sensor configured to measure a mass of powder leaving a powder source for delivery to the powder delivery device.

4 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heat sensors comprises an optical system configured to image an area surrounding the melt pool, wherein the optical system comprises an occulting device configured to at least partially occult the melt pool and energy from the energy delivery device.

5 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 4 , wherein the computing device is configured to determine a cooling rate of material surrounding the melt pool based on data received from the optical system.

6 . The additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heat sensors comprises an imaging device configured to image the melt pool, wherein the computing device is configured to determine at least one of a size of the melt pool or a temperature of the melt pool based on data received from the imaging device.

7 . A method comprising:
receiving, by one or more computing devices, data from a plurality of mass sensors of an additive manufacturing system, wherein the additive manufacturing system comprises an energy delivery device configured to deliver energy to a build surface of a component to form a melt pool in the build surface of a component, a powder delivery device configured to direct a powder stream toward the melt pool along a longitudinal axis, the plurality of mass sensors, each mass sensor associated with a portion of the additive manufacturing system, and a plurality of heat sensors, wherein the plurality of mass sensors comprises a topology sensor configured to measure a topology of material added to the melt pool, and wherein the data from the plurality of mass sensors includes the topology of the material added to the melt pool; determining, by the one or more computing devices, an overall mass flux based on the data from the plurality of mass sensors; controlling, by the one or more computing devices, the powder delivery device based on the overall mass flux; receiving, by the one or more computing devices, data from the plurality of heat sensors; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a mass of powder added to the melt pool based on the topology of the material added to the melt pool and a density of the powder; determining, by the one or more computing devices, a capture efficiency by dividing at least one of:
the mass of powder added to the melt pool by a mass of powder leaving the powder delivery device; or
a mass rate of powder added to the melt pool by a mass flow rate of powder leaving the powder delivery device;
determining, by the one or more computing devices, an overall heat flux based on the data from the plurality of heat sensors and the capture efficiency; and controlling, by the one or more computing devices, the energy delivery device based on the overall heat flux.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of mass sensors comprise a powder flow monitoring system comprising an illumination device configured to illuminate at least some powder of the powder stream between the powder delivery device and the build surface, and an imaging device configured to image the illuminated powder at an image plane that intersects the longitudinal axis, the method further comprising:
determining, by the one or more computing device, a mass flow rate of powder from the powder delivery device using data from the powder flow monitoring system.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of mass sensors comprise a powder source mass sensor configured to measure a mass of powder leaving a powder source for delivery to the powder delivery device.

10 . The method of claim 7 ,
wherein the plurality of heat sensors comprises an optical system configured to image an area surrounding the melt pool, wherein the optical system comprises an occulting device configured to at least partially occult the melt pool and energy from the energy delivery device.

11 . The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
determining, by the one or more computing devices, a cooling rate of material surrounding the melt pool based on data received from the optical system, wherein determining the overall mass flux is based on the cooling rate.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of heat sensors comprises an imaging device configured to image the melt pool, the method further comprising:
determining at least one of a size of the melt pool or a temperature of the melt pool based on data received from the imaging device, determining the overall mass flux is based on the size of the melt pool.

Assignees

• Rolls Royce Corp

Inventors

• Nelson Scott
• Ribic Brandon David

Classifications

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B23K26/34

  Laser welding for purposes other than joining · CPC title

• B22F12/90

  Means for process control, e.g. cameras or sensors · CPC title

• G05B2219/49023

  3-D printing, layer of powder, add drops of binder in layer, new powder · CPC title

• B33Y30/00 Primary

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