Method of manufacturing a club head element

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a club head element is provided to solve the problem of air holes in a club head element formed by 3D printing. The method includes providing a powder material including 7.3-8.35% aluminum, 0.75-1.25% vanadium, 0.1-0.4% iron, 0.75-1.25% molybdenum, a balance of titanium, and unavoidable impurities by weight percentage; and 3D printing a club head element semi-finished product from the powder material by a laser power of 120-180 W and a laser movement speed of 700-1300 mm / s. The club head element semi-finished product has better quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for manufacturing clubhead components, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing clubhead components by 3D printing. Background Technology

[0002] Generally, when manufacturing components such as the clubhead striking panel or clubhead body, molten metal can be poured into a mold and allowed to cool and solidify into the desired shape. Alternatively, a metal block can be forged into the desired component. However, clubhead components formed by casting or forging can only achieve relatively simple shapes, making it difficult to meet the diverse needs of customization. Therefore, 3D printing is used to create clubhead components with predetermined shapes. However, 3D-printed clubhead components are prone to surface porosity, leading to poor mechanical properties.

[0003] In view of this, there is indeed a need to improve the existing methods for manufacturing clubhead components. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To address the aforementioned problems, the present invention aims to provide a method for manufacturing a club head component that can reduce the number of holes on the surface of the club head component.

[0005] The directional terms or their approximate terms used throughout this invention, such as "front," "back," "left," "right," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," and "side," are only used to assist in explaining and understanding the various embodiments of this invention and are not intended to limit this invention.

[0006] The use of the quantifiers “a” or “an” for the elements and components described throughout this invention is for convenience and to provide the general meaning of the scope of the invention; in this invention, it should be interpreted as including one or at least one, and a single concept also includes multiple cases, unless it clearly means otherwise.

[0007] The terms "combination," "integration," or "assembly" used throughout this invention mainly refer to forms such as those in which the components can be separated without damaging them after connection, or those in which the components cannot be separated after connection. Those skilled in the art can choose the appropriate term based on the material of the components to be connected or the assembly requirements.

[0008] The method for manufacturing a club head component according to the present invention includes: providing a powder material comprising 7.3-8.35% aluminum, 0.75-1.25% vanadium, 0.1-0.4% iron, 0.75-1.25% molybdenum, a balanced amount of titanium, and unavoidable impurities by weight percentage; and 3D printing a club head component semi-finished product by using the powder material with a laser power of 120-180W and a laser movement speed of 700-1300mm / s.

[0009] Therefore, the method for manufacturing a clubhead component of the present invention, by using a predetermined laser power and laser movement speed to 3D print the semi-finished clubhead component, can reduce the surface porosity of the semi-finished clubhead component, thereby avoiding the poor mechanical properties of the semi-finished clubhead component caused by porosity, and achieving the effect of giving the semi-finished clubhead component better quality.

[0010] The powder material has a particle size of 15–53 μm. This allows it to be used for 3D printing of the rod head component semi-finished product.

[0011] The powder material is 3D printed into a semi-finished club head component using a 170W laser power and a travel rate of 1250mm / s. This reduces the surface porosity of the semi-finished club head component.

[0012] The semi-finished clubhead component undergoes an annealing treatment, which involves heating the semi-finished clubhead component to 550–850°C and maintaining the temperature for 90–360 minutes. This process imparts improved mechanical properties to the semi-finished clubhead component.

[0013] The annealing process involves heating the semi-finished clubhead component to 600–800°C and maintaining it for 90–360 minutes. This process imparts superior mechanical properties to the semi-finished clubhead component.

[0014] The annealed semi-finished clubhead component exhibits a yield strength of 160–185 ksi, a tensile strength of 160–195 ksi, an elongation of 5–15%, and a hardness of 40–43 HRC. Thus, the semi-finished clubhead possesses superior strength.

[0015] Among them, the surface of the semi-finished rod head component is 10mm. 2 The density is greater than 99.6%. This avoids the problem of poor mechanical properties caused by surface pores in the semi-finished club head. Detailed Implementation

[0016] To make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described below in detail.

[0017] A preferred embodiment of the method for manufacturing a club head component of the present invention includes forming a semi-finished club head component by 3D printing from a powder material.

[0018] The powder material can be an alloy powder with a particle size of 15–53 μm. This powder material can be formulated into a clubhead component with good mechanical properties through a specific ratio of various metallic and non-metallic elements. In this embodiment, the powder material may include 7.3–8.35% aluminum (Al), 0.75–1.25% vanadium (V), 0.1–0.4% iron (Fe), 0.75–1.25% molybdenum (Mo), a balanced amount of titanium (Ti), and unavoidable impurities by weight percentage. Thus, the powder material can be formed into a semi-finished clubhead component with superior mechanical properties.

[0019] The powder material can be 3D printed into a clubhead component semi-finished product by laser sintering, for example, by 3D printing technology such as SLM (selective laser melting). In this embodiment, after laying the powder material of a predetermined thickness on a platform, the powder material is sintered with a laser to form the cross-section of the clubhead component semi-finished product. The clubhead component semi-finished product can be, for example, a clubhead body, a hitting face, or a clubhead cover. Then, a predetermined thickness of powder material is layered onto the cross-section of the clubhead component semi-finished product, and the powder material is sintered with a laser again. This layering process is repeated to form the clubhead component semi-finished product. Furthermore, by irradiating the powder material with a laser power of 120–180 W and a laser movement speed of 700–1300 mm / s, the porosity on the surface of the clubhead component semi-finished product can be reduced, making the porosity per 10 mm of the surface of the clubhead component semi-finished product less noticeable. 2 The density is greater than 99.6%, which gives the surface of the semi-finished rod head component a better density.

[0020] Furthermore, the method for manufacturing the clubhead component of the present invention may further include performing a heat treatment on the semi-finished clubhead component to improve its mechanical properties. It is worth noting that different heat treatments can be performed on the semi-finished clubhead components formed from different powder materials. In this embodiment, the semi-finished clubhead component undergoes an annealing treatment. Specifically, the annealing treatment may include heating the semi-finished clubhead component to a predetermined temperature higher than its recrystallization temperature, maintaining the predetermined temperature for a period of time, and then slowly cooling it. This can improve the ductility and toughness of the semi-finished clubhead component and release internal residual stress. More specifically, the annealing treatment may include heating the semi-finished clubhead component to 550–850°C and maintaining it for 90–360 minutes. Preferably, the annealing treatment may include heating the semi-finished clubhead component to 600–800°C and maintaining it for 90–360 minutes. Therefore, the semi-finished rod head component can have a yield strength of 160-185 ksi, a tensile strength of 160-195 ksi, an elongation of 5-15%, and a hardness of 40-43 HRC.

[0021] The number of pores in the semi-finished rod head components formed under the 3D printing conditions shown in Table 1 was further tested, and the results are shown in Table 2.

[0022] Table 1. Different 3D Printing Conditions

[0023]

[0024]

[0025] Table 2. Number of pores larger than 30 μm in each group

[0026] Group Number of pores with a diameter greater than 30μm 1 Dense pores 2 8 3 0 4 8 5 Dense pores 6 15 7 2 8 0 9 0 10 Dense pores 11 21 12 3 13 0

[0027] As shown in Table 2, in the method for manufacturing the rod head element of the present invention, after irradiating the powder material with a laser moving speed of 650 mm / s to form the semi-finished rod head element, many pores are formed on the surface of the semi-finished rod head element (groups 1, 5, and 10). However, when the laser moving speed is increased, the formation of pores can be significantly reduced. Therefore, the effect of different laser powers on density at a high laser moving speed of 1250 mm / s was further tested (groups 8, 9, and 13). Each group of experiments was repeated four times, and the results are shown in Table 3.

[0028] Table 3. Effect of different laser powers on density

[0029]

[0030]

[0031] As shown in Table 3, the method for manufacturing the clubhead component of the present invention, at a laser movement speed of 1250 mm / s and a laser power of 170 W, can obtain a clubhead component semi-finished product with better density (Group 9). The mechanical properties of the group 9 clubhead component semi-finished products after annealing were then tested, with each annealing condition repeated several times. The results are shown in Table 4. As shown in Table 4, compared to the unannealed product, the annealing treatment significantly improves the mechanical properties of the clubhead component semi-finished product, further enhancing its strength.

[0032] Table 4. Effects of heat treatment conditions on mechanical properties

[0033]

[0034]

[0035] In summary, the method for manufacturing a club head component of the present invention, by using a predetermined laser power and laser movement speed to 3D print the semi-finished club head component, can reduce surface pores in the semi-finished club head component, thereby avoiding poor mechanical properties caused by pores and achieving the effect of giving the semi-finished club head component better quality.

[0036] Although the present invention has been disclosed using the above preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications and alterations made by those skilled in the art to the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention shall still fall within the technical scope protected by the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall include all changes within the meaning and equivalent scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a club head component, characterized in that, include: A powder material is provided, comprising, by weight percentage, 7.3–8.35% aluminum, 0.75–1.25% vanadium, 0.1–0.4% iron, 0.75–1.25% molybdenum, a balanced amount of titanium, and unavoidable impurities; and The powder material was 3D printed into a semi-finished rod head component using a laser power of 120-180W and a laser movement speed of 700-1300mm / s.

2. The method for manufacturing a rod head component as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The powder material has a particle size of 15–53 μm.

3. The method for manufacturing a club head component as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The powder material was 3D printed to form the semi-finished rod head component using a laser power of 170W and a movement speed of 1250mm / s.

4. The method for manufacturing a club head component as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The semi-finished clubhead component is subjected to an annealing process, which involves heating the semi-finished clubhead component to 550–850°C and maintaining it for 90–360 minutes.

5. The method for manufacturing a rod head component as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The annealing process involves heating the semi-finished rod head component to 600–800°C and maintaining it for 90–360 minutes.

6. The method for manufacturing a club head component as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The annealed rod head component semi-finished product has a yield strength of 160-185 ksi, a tensile strength of 160-195 ksi, an elongation of 5-15%, and a hardness of 40-43 HRC.

7. The method for manufacturing a club head component as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The surface of the semi-finished clubhead component is 10mm... 2 Its density is greater than 99.6%.

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