Inspection device for manufacturing a part with addition of material

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12508654-B2
Application number	US-202118016567-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 6, 2021
Priority date	Jul 20, 2020
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

A device for manufacturing a piece with addition of material includes an optical inspection unit for capturing at least one holographic image of a transformation zone of the material, in real time while the piece is being manufactured. A processor then characterizes a topography of the transformation zone from each holographic image. Such manufacturing device may be in particular of 3D-printer type, or a welding device.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . A manufacturing device for manufacturing a piece with addition of material, comprising energy supply means adapted to transform a quantity of material to be added to the piece being manufactured, within a transformation zone of the material which is effective at a time when said quantity of material is being fixed to the piece, the manufacturing device further comprising optical inspection means for providing at least one representation of the transformation zone in real time while the piece is being manufactured, said optical inspection means comprising:
at least one inspection light source, adapted for producing an inspection light beam; an image sensor array; a beamsplitter, arranged to split the inspection light beam-into an illuminating beam and a reference beam; an illumination optical path, continually connecting the beamsplitter to the transformation zone while the piece is being manufactured, and intended for the illuminating beam; a reference optical path, continually connecting the beamsplitter to the image sensor array while the piece is being manufactured, and intended for the reference beam; and a transfer optical path, continually connecting the transformation zone to the image sensor array while the piece is being manufactured, and intended for the backscattered radiation that is produced by the illuminating beam when said illuminating beam is incident onto the transformation zone, said transfer optical path being adapted so that the backscattered radiation forms an image of the transformation zone on the image sensor array, the optical inspection means being arranged so that the image sensor array produces, for each readout sequence of said image sensor array, readout data which correspond to a superposition of the backscattered radiation transmitted by the transfer optical path with the reference beam transmitted by the reference optical path,
each inspection light source being a laser source, and the readout data from the image sensor array, for each readout sequence of said image sensor array, forming a holographic image of the transformation zone which relates to a time when the piece is being manufactured, the optical inspection means further comprising at least one processor adapted for executing an algorithm for extracting a two-dimensional phase distribution from the holographic image, and converting the two-dimensional phase distribution into numerical values which characterize a topography of the transformation zone, so as to provide a three-dimensional representation of said transformation zone,
the manufacturing device being of additive manufacturing type using selective melting produced by laser onto powder bed, wherein the energy supply means comprise a fusion laser and focusing optics adapted for focusing, on the transformation zone, a fusion laser beam produced by the fusion laser, so as to form selectively in said transformation zone, a melt pool from a powder of the material that is intended to form the piece, and
wherein at least part of the focusing optics is arranged on a portion common to the illumination optical path and to the transfer optical path, so that the illuminating beam is incident onto the transformation zone after having passed through said part of the focusing optics, and the backscattered radiation passes through said part of the focusing optics in the direction of the image sensor array.

2 . The manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the illumination optical path is further adapted so that, at the transformation zone, a cross-sectional area of the illuminating beam is larger than the transformation zone, and the manufacturing device is adapted so that the holographic image has an entrance optical field of view which contains the transformation zone.

3 . The manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the part of the focusing optics which is arranged on the portion common to the illumination optical path and to the transfer optical path comprises a two-dimensional scanning optical module, so that the fusion laser beam, the illuminating beam, and the backscattered radiation are simultaneously deflected by the two-dimensional scanning optical module.

4 . The manufacturing device according to claim 3 , wherein the part of the focusing optics which is arranged on the portion common to the illumination optical path and to the transfer optical path further comprises a dynamic focus optical module, said dynamic focus optical module being located upstream of the two-dimensional scanning optical module for the fusion laser beam and the illuminating beam, and being effective simultaneously for said fusion laser beam, said illuminating beam, and the backscattered radiation.

5 . The manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the transfer optical path comprises at least a first converging lens and a second converging lens, which are arranged to be successively traversed by the backscattered radiation produced by the illuminating beam when said illuminating beam is incident onto the transformation zone, and so that an image focus point of the first converging lens is superimposed on an object focus point of the second converging lens.

6 . The manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the transfer optical path comprises a filter adapted for transmitting the backscattered radiation produced by the illuminating beam when said illuminating beam is incident onto the transformation zone, selectively with respect to thermal radiation emitted by the transformation zone.

7 . The manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the reference beam and the backscattered radiation form a digital holography configuration in an image plane, the reference beam further having a collimated beam configuration at the image sensor array.

8 . The manufacturing device according to claim 7 , wherein the reference beam and a central direction of propagation of the backscattered radiation form a non-zero angle at the image sensor array,
and the algorithm that is executed by the processor is adapted to characterize the topography of the transformation zone from a single holographic order value selected among +1 or −1, or from both holographic order values +1 and −1.

9 . The manufacturing device according to claim 1 , wherein the optical inspection means comprise at least two inspection light sources, formed by respective laser sources having different wavelengths but with a difference between the different wavelengths that is less than 2% of each of said wavelengths,
the optical inspection means being arranged so that both inspection light sources simultaneously illuminate the transformation zone, each inspection light source being associated with a respective reference optical path, and transfer optical paths, being functional simultaneously for the two inspection light sources between the transformation zone and the image sensor array, and the algorithm that is executed by the processor is furthermore adapted for isolating, in the holographic image, image components which are each formed by the backscattered radiation and the reference beam caused by a same one of the two inspection light sources, one image component separately for each inspection light source, and the two isolated image components correspond to a same holographic order value which is equal to +1 or −1; and the algorithm is furthermore adapted for separately extracting two phase values, for each of a multitude of image points of the holographic image, from both isolated image components, then calculating a difference between the two phase values for each image point, and characterizing the topography of the transformation zone by associating results of th

Assignees

• Office National Detudes Rech Aerospatiales
• Univ Du Mans

Inventors

• Fleury Bruno
• Picart Pascal
• Piniard Matthieu
• Sorrente Béatrice

Classifications

• B22F10/28

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

• B22F12/90

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

• B33Y50/02

  for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes · CPC title

• B33Y30/00

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

• Y02P10/25

  Process efficiency · CPC title