Cyclone vortex agitated laser additive manufacturing feed device and method

Abstract

This invention provides a laser additive manufacturing feeding device and method using a vortex-driven agitation. The device includes a laser, a laser head housing, welding wires A, B, C, and D, an inert gas inlet, an induction coil, a spiral wall, molten metal droplets, a molten metal outlet, a gas flow control valve, a gas flow controller, and a gas storage bottle. The method involves inputting inert gas, which flows to form a gas vortex. When welding wires A, B, C, and D are heated and melted, they mix to form four-component molten metal droplets. These droplets then converge into a molten metal fluid. As the fluid passes through the spiral wall, the gas vortex drives the molten metal fluid to form a vortex, agitating and mixing the four components within the droplets, resulting in a uniform distribution of the four components. This device and method solve the problem of uneven composition in multi-component molten metal pools during laser wire additive manufacturing of materials, which severely affects material properties and the uniformity of performance across different parts.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention belongs to the field of laser filament additive manufacturing technology, and discloses a cyclone vortex stirring laser additive manufacturing feeding device and method. Background Technology

[0002] Laser filament additive manufacturing technology has the capability to produce metal parts close to their final shape, enabling the manufacture of difficult-to-machine metals. It offers advantages such as flexibility, short manufacturing cycles, high material utilization, and low cost, providing significant advantages over traditional manufacturing technologies. Laser filament additive manufacturing can balance forming quality, processing efficiency, and processing cost. Furthermore, research on laser filament additive manufacturing is relatively limited both domestically and internationally, indicating its immense research value and development potential. Multi-component materials, as advanced materials driven by function and performance, break down the previously coupled material properties, allowing for the individual improvement of one or more properties and enabling key components to exhibit different properties in different locations. Currently, it has demonstrated strong development potential. Existing laser filament additive manufacturing methods for multi-component materials adjust performance by changing the filament composition or adjusting the filament feed rate. However, multi-component materials contain multiple material components, and maintaining the uniformity of the molten metal pool during additive manufacturing becomes a major problem, severely affecting material performance and the consistency of performance across different parts. Traditional methods mostly employ external electromagnetic fields or ultrasound to achieve molten metal pool oscillation, but these methods suffer from the following problems:

[0003] (1) The addition of electromagnetic fields or ultrasonic waves by the equipment increases the complexity of the additive manufacturing system;

[0004] (2) The equipment that applies an external electromagnetic field or ultrasonic wave is usually placed at the bottom or around the additive parts, which limits the flexibility of additive manufacturing.

[0005] (3) Adding an external electromagnetic field or ultrasound increases the cost of the equipment;

[0006] Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a laser filament additive manufacturing method for multi-component materials with uniform composition. Considering both equipment simplicity and economy, this paper discloses a cyclone vortex agitation feeding device and method for laser additive manufacturing. A transition channel is designed and added between the molten metal and the additive part. The wall of the transition channel is spiral-shaped, and an inert gas is introduced into the transition channel to form a cyclone. When the molten metal passes through the transition channel, the cyclone drives the molten metal to form a ferrofluid vortex, achieving the purpose of agitating the multi-component molten metal and obtaining a uniform multi-component molten pool. This results in multi-component materials manufactured by laser filament additive manufacturing exhibiting excellent properties and uniform performance across all parts. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to provide an apparatus and method for melting metal by forming a vortex using a cyclone, in order to solve the problem that the uneven composition of the molten pool containing multi-component metals seriously affects the performance of the material in the process of laser filament additive manufacturing of multi-component materials.

[0008] To achieve this objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0009] A vortex-driven laser additive manufacturing feeding device and method are disclosed. The method involves using an inert gas inlet to input inert gas, which flows along the spiral wall to form a gas vortex. When four components of welding wire A, B, C, and D are heated and melted, they mix to form four-component metal droplets. These droplets then converge into a metal fluid. As the metal fluid passes through the spiral wall, the gas vortex drives the molten metal fluid to form a metal fluid vortex, which stirs and mixes the four-component metal droplets. An induction coil keeps the molten metal fluid in the spiral wall warm to prevent solidification. After being stirred and mixed by the metal fluid vortex, the four-component metal fluid flows out from the molten metal outlet to form a multi-component material for additive manufacturing. Preferably, the method includes the following steps:

[0010] Step 1: Turn on the laser to output laser light, and turn on the induction heating switch of the induction coil;

[0011] Step 2: Welding wires A, B, C, and D of the four compositions are fed in.

[0012] Step 3: Open the gas flow control valve, set the air flow parameters in the gas flow controller according to actual needs, and input inert gas. The inert gas flows along the spiral wall to form a gas vortex.

[0013] Step 4: Laser input heat to heat and melt the four components of welding wire A, welding wire B, welding wire C, and welding wire D;

[0014] Step 5: The four components of welding wire A, welding wire B, welding wire C, and welding wire D are heated and melted to form a four-component metal droplet;

[0015] Step Six: As the four molten metal droplets converge into a molten metal fluid and pass through the spiral wall, the gas vortex drives the molten metal fluid to form a vortex. This vortex stirs and mixes the four molten metal droplets. Simultaneously, the induction coil provides heat to keep the molten metal fluid in the spiral wall warm and prevent it from solidifying.

[0016] Step 7: After being mixed by vortexing and stirring, the four-component metal fluid flows out from the molten metal outlet to form a multi-component material through additive manufacturing.

[0017] The beneficial effect of this invention lies in providing a laser additive manufacturing feeding device and method with vortex agitation. A transition channel is designed and added between the molten metal and the additive part. The wall of the transition channel is spiral-shaped. An inert gas is introduced into the transition channel to form a vortex. When the molten metal passes through the transition channel, the vortex drives the molten metal to form a metal fluid vortex, thereby agitating the molten metal containing multiple components and obtaining a uniform molten pool containing multiple components. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall process of laser filament additive manufacturing of multi-component materials provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a general cross-sectional view of multi-component material laser filament additive manufacturing provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 3 This is a partial cross-sectional schematic diagram of laser filament additive manufacturing of multi-component materials provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a gas vortex driving molten metal fluid to form a metal fluid vortex, provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 5 A flowchart of laser filament additive manufacturing process for multi-component materials is provided in a specific embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] In the picture:

[0024] Laser (1), laser head shell (2), welding wire A (301), welding wire B (302), welding wire C (303), welding wire D (304), inert gas inlet (4), induction coil (5), spiral wall (6), molten metal droplet (7), molten metal outlet (8), four-component metal fluid after stirring and mixing (9), inert gas (10), gas vortex (11), molten metal eddy (12), gas flow control valve (13), gas flow controller (14), gas storage bottle (15). Detailed Implementation

[0025] The present invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and not intended to limit it. Furthermore, it should be noted that, for ease of description, the accompanying drawings show only the parts relevant to the present invention, and not all of the structures.

[0026] In the description of this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "connected," "linked," and "fixed" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0027] In this invention, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, "above" or "below" the second feature can include direct contact between the first and second features, or contact between the first and second features through another feature between them. Furthermore, "above," "over," and "on top" of the second feature includes the first feature directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is at a higher horizontal level than the second feature. "Below," "below," and "under" the second feature includes the first feature directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply indicates that the first feature is at a lower horizontal level than the second feature.

[0028] In the description of this embodiment, the terms "upper," "lower," "right," etc., refer to the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for ease of description and simplification of operation, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on the present invention. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used only for distinction in description and have no special meaning.

[0029] This invention provides a cyclone vortex agitation-based laser additive manufacturing feeding device and method, specifically, as follows: Figure 1 , Figure 2As shown, this device includes a laser (1), a laser head housing (2), welding wires A (301), B (302), C (303), and D (304), an inert gas inlet (4), an induction coil (5), a spiral wall (6), molten metal droplets (7), a molten metal outlet (8), and a four-component metal fluid (9) after stirring and mixing. The laser head housing (2) has a channel between the laser (1), welding wires A (301), B (302), C (303), D (304), and the spiral wall (6) in the middle, an inert gas inlet (4) on the outside, and a molten metal outlet (8) at the lower end. An induction coil (5) is located at the lower end of the laser head housing (2), outside the molten metal outlet (8), to keep the molten metal fluid in the spiral wall (6) warm and prevent solidification. A gas flow control valve (13) controls the flow rate of the inert gas (10) input through the inert gas inlet (4). The gas flow controller (14) controls the opening degree of the gas flow control valve (13), and the air flow parameters can be set according to actual needs.

[0030] Specifically, such as Figure 3 As shown, welding wires A (301), B (302), C (303), and D (304) converge at a point. Laser (1) is focused at the convergence point and heats and melts them to form a four-component metal droplet.

[0031] Specifically, such as Figure 4 As shown, inert gas (10) enters from the inert gas inlet (4) and flows along the spiral wall (6) to form a gas vortex (11). When the four types of welding wires are heated and melted to form four-component metal droplets (7), they converge into a metal fluid and pass through the spiral wall (6). The gas vortex (11) drives the molten metal fluid to form a metal fluid vortex (12). The metal fluid vortex (12) stirs and mixes the four-component metal droplets (7), so that the four components in the metal droplets (7) are evenly distributed at any position in space. After being stirred and mixed by the metal fluid vortex, the four-component metal fluid (9) flows out from the molten metal outlet (8) to form a multi-component material through additive manufacturing.

[0032] Obviously, the above embodiments of the present invention are merely examples for clearly illustrating the present invention, and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will be able to make various obvious changes, readjustments, and substitutions without departing from the scope of protection of the present invention. It is neither necessary nor possible to exhaustively describe all embodiments here. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cyclone vortex agitation laser additive manufacturing feeding device, characterized in that, include: Laser (1), laser head shell (2), welding wire A (301), welding wire B (302), welding wire C (303), welding wire D (304), inert gas inlet (4), induction coil (5), spiral wall (6), molten metal droplet (7), molten metal outlet (8), four-component metal fluid after stirring and mixing (9), inert gas (10), gas vortex (11), gas flow control valve (13), gas flow controller (14), gas storage bottle (15); The laser head shell (2) is made of high melting point ceramic material, with a channel for laser (1), welding wire A (301), welding wire B (302), welding wire C (303), welding wire D (304), and spiral wall (6) in the middle, an inert gas inlet (4) on the outside, and a molten metal outlet (8) at the bottom; The inert gas inlet (4) is used to input Inert gas (10); the induction coil (5) is used to heat the molten metal fluid in the spiral wall (6) to prevent it from solidifying; the spiral wall (6) is used to guide the flow of inert gas (10) to form a gas vortex (11); the molten metal outlet (8) is used to output the four-component metal fluid (9) after stirring and mixing to form a multi-component material; the gas vortex (11) is used to drive the metal fluid vortex formed by the molten metal fluid, stirring and mixing the four-component metal droplets (7) to make the four components evenly distributed; the gas flow control valve (13) is used to control the flow rate of inert gas (10) input into the inert gas inlet (4); the gas flow controller (14) is used to control the opening degree of the gas flow control valve (13) and set the air flow parameters according to actual needs; the gas storage bottle (15) is used to store inert gas (10).

2. The method of using the cyclone vortex agitation laser additive manufacturing feeding device according to claim 1 includes the following steps: Step 1: Turn on the switches of the laser (1) and the induction coil (5); Step 2: Feed welding wire A (301), welding wire B (302), welding wire C (303), and welding wire D (304) into the laser head housing (2); Step 3: Open the gas flow control valve (13) and set the gas flow parameters through the gas flow controller (14); Step 4: Inert gas (10) is introduced into the inert gas inlet (4), and it flows along the spiral wall (6) to form a gas vortex (11); Step 5: Laser (1) heats and melts welding wires A (301), B (302), C (303), and D (304) to form a four-component metal droplet (7); Step 6: The four-component metal droplets (7) converge into a metal fluid and pass through the spiral wall (6). The gas vortex (11) drives the molten metal fluid to form a stirred and mixed four-component metal fluid (9). Step 7: The induction coil (5) provides heating and heat preservation to prevent the four-component metal fluid (9) from solidifying after stirring and mixing; Step 8: The four-component metal fluid (9) after stirring and mixing flows out from the molten metal outlet (8) to form a multi-component material through additive manufacturing.

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