High-strength metal part integrated precise efficient additive manufacturing equipment

Abstract

The utility model relates to high-strength metal part integrated precise efficient additive manufacturing equipment. The high-strength metal part integrated precise efficient additive manufacturing equipment comprises a vacuum chamber, a workbench, a powder supply device, an electron beam system, a laser optical system and an anti-evaporation device. The integrated precise and efficient additive manufacturing equipment for the high-strength metal part has the advantages of laser printing and electron beam printing, that is, the part, with the high dimensional precision requirement, on the high-strength metal part is obtained in a laser printing mode; the part with high mechanical strength requirement and high manufacturing efficiency requirement on the high-strength metal part is obtained in an electron beam printing mode, the high-strength metal part with high dimensional precision and excellent mechanical property can be obtained, and meanwhile the printing efficiency of the high-strength metal part can be improved. The laser light path is designed to be perpendicular to the working face in the forming area, it can be guaranteed that the forming precision of the laser light path on the whole breadth is not affected by the configuration, the size and other factors of the formed part, and the size precision of the printed part is greatly guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of additive manufacturing technology, and in particular to a high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment. Background Technology

[0002] High-strength aluminum alloys, refractory metals, copper alloys, and high-strength steel are widely used in the defense science and technology industry and the national economy, and are often manufactured using profiles and machining methods. To meet the increasing demands for improved parameters in next-generation high-end military and civilian equipment, the complexity of components made of high-strength aluminum alloys, refractory metals, copper alloys, and high-strength steel will increase dramatically, with technologies such as lattice lightweighting, curved internal flow channels, variable wall thickness pre-etched grooves, and integrated multi-part designs constantly emerging. These configurations are difficult to achieve cost-effectively using existing machining processes; therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new precision manufacturing equipment and technologies to ensure the research and production of next-generation high-end equipment.

[0003] Additive manufacturing is an effective method for achieving integrated forming of complex, irregularly shaped metal parts. Currently, the mainstream processes in metal additive manufacturing include five types: selective laser melting (SLM), selective electron beam melting (SELM), laser fused deposition modeling (FDM), electron beam freeform forming, and arc additive manufacturing. Among these, SLM-formed parts made of aluminum alloys, refractory metals, copper alloys, and high-strength steel, while offering high dimensional accuracy, are prone to cracking, and their strength is insufficient to meet the requirements of current aerospace and military equipment structural components. SELM offers high efficiency and produces parts with good mechanical properties but poor precision, making them unsuitable for direct use as structural components. Laser fused deposition modeling is also highly efficient, but like SLM, it suffers from poor mechanical properties. Electron beam freeform deposition and arc additive manufacturing use wire as raw material, requiring high material toughness and limiting the types of materials that can be formed. None of these processes fully meet the requirements for integrated precision manufacturing of complex, irregularly shaped parts made of high-strength aluminum alloys, refractory metals, copper alloys, and high-strength steel for next-generation high-end military and civilian equipment. Utility Model Content

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a high-strength metal parts integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment that is suitable for precision manufacturing of high-strength aluminum alloys, refractory metals, copper alloys, high-strength steel and other difficult laser forming material systems, and can improve the strength and dimensional accuracy of high-strength metal parts and has high printing efficiency.

[0005] A high-strength, precision, and efficient additive manufacturing equipment for integrated metal components includes:

[0006] The vacuum chamber has a laser entrance window and an electron beam entrance window at the top.

[0007] A worktable, at least partially disposed within the vacuum chamber; the portion of the worktable located within the vacuum chamber has a forming area;

[0008] A powder supply device, located inside the vacuum chamber, is used to supply powder to the forming area;

[0009] An electron beam system is positioned above the vacuum chamber and is used to generate a high-energy electron beam capable of passing through the electron beam incident window; the scanning focusing range of the electron beam system covers the forming area;

[0010] A laser optical system includes a laser, a field lens, a beam expander and collimator, and a galvanometer. The beam expander and collimator faces the laser emission outlet of the laser. The galvanometer is located on the side of the beam expander and collimator away from the laser and above the field lens, used to deflect the laser beam expanded by the beam expander and collimator onto the field lens. The field lens is located above the laser entrance window and is used to allow the laser beam to pass through the laser entrance window and vertically irradiate the working surface within the forming area.

[0011] An anti-evaporation device is installed on the vacuum chamber and has a transparent film that completely fits and covers the laser incident window.

[0012] In one embodiment, the field lens is a telecentric field lens.

[0013] In one embodiment, the telecentric field mirror has a coverage wavelength of 266nm to 1980nm, an usable laser power of 50W to 1000W, and a laser focal spot diameter of 5μm to 90μm.

[0014] In one embodiment, the working field of view of the telecentric field mirror is less than ±25°.

[0015] In one embodiment, the orthographic projection of the laser incident window onto the working surface within the forming region completely coincides with the working surface of the forming region.

[0016] In one embodiment, the laser incident window is provided with high-transparency glass.

[0017] In one embodiment, the vacuum chamber is provided with passage slots on both sides of the laser incident window;

[0018] The anti-evaporation device further includes an unwinding assembly and a winding assembly; the unwinding assembly and the winding assembly are spaced apart on the vacuum chamber; the laser incident window is located between the unwinding assembly and the winding assembly; the transparent film is wound on the unwinding assembly, with one end passing through the two through slots in sequence and wound on the winding assembly, so that the transparent film adheres tightly to the surface of the high-transparency glass.

[0019] In one embodiment, the unwinding assembly and the winding assembly have speeds of 0.1 mm / min to 5 mm / min.

[0020] In one embodiment, the transparent film is a biaxially oriented polypropylene film, a biaxially oriented nylon film, or a cast polypropylene film.

[0021] The aforementioned high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment combines the advantages of laser printing and electron beam printing. Specifically, it utilizes laser printing to obtain parts of the high-strength metal component requiring high dimensional accuracy, and electron beam printing to obtain parts requiring high mechanical strength and high manufacturing efficiency. Therefore, by combining electron beam printing and laser printing, this equipment achieves high-strength metal components with high dimensional accuracy and excellent mechanical properties, while also improving printing efficiency. Furthermore, by designing the laser beam path perpendicular to the working surface within the forming area, the forming accuracy of the laser beam path across the entire area is ensured to be unaffected by the configuration and size of the formed component, greatly guaranteeing the dimensional accuracy of the printed component.

[0022] Practice has shown that the absolute value of the dimensional accuracy of high-strength metal parts obtained by printing with the above-mentioned high-strength metal parts integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment is ≤0.15mm / 100mm, and the printing efficiency is ≥80ml / h.

[0023] Therefore, the aforementioned high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment has a high printing efficiency and can obtain high-strength metal components that have both high dimensional accuracy and high mechanical strength, so as to meet the precision manufacturing of difficult laser forming material systems such as high-strength aluminum alloys, refractory metals, copper alloys, and high-strength steel. It has broad prospects for engineering applications. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment in a preferred embodiment of this utility model.

[0025] Labeling Explanation: 100. High-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment; 110. Vacuum chamber; 111. Laser entrance window; 112. Electron beam entrance window; 120. Worktable; 121. Forming area; 130. Powder supply device; 140. Electron beam system; 150. Laser optical system; 151. Laser; 152. Field lens; 153. Beam expander and collimator; 154. Galvanometer; 160. Anti-evaporation device; 161. Transparent film; 162. Unwinding assembly; 153. Rewinding assembly. Detailed Implementation

[0026] To facilitate understanding of this utility model, a more complete description will be given below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of this utility model are shown in the drawings. However, this utility model can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of the disclosure of this utility model.

[0027] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The term "and / or" as used herein includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0028] When describing positional relationships, unless otherwise specified, when an element is referred to as being "on" another element, it may be directly on the other element or there may be intermediate elements. It is also understood that when an element is referred to as being "between" two elements, it may be the only one between the two elements, or there may be one or more intermediate elements.

[0029] When using the terms “including,” “having,” and “comprising” as described herein, another component may be added unless explicitly qualifying terms such as “only,” “consisting of,” etc. are used. Unless otherwise stated, singular terms may include plural forms and should not be construed as having a quantity of one.

[0030] Please see Figure 1 The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 in the preferred embodiment of this utility model includes a vacuum chamber 110, a worktable 120, a powder supply device 130, an electron beam system 140, a laser optical system 150, and an anti-evaporation device 160.

[0031] The top of the vacuum chamber 110 has a laser incident window 111 and an electron beam incident window 112. Specifically, the laser incident window 111 and the electron beam incident window 112 are spaced apart. At least a portion of the worktable 120 is located within the vacuum chamber 110. The portion of the worktable 120 located within the vacuum chamber 110 has a forming area 121. The forming area 121 is the area on the worktable 120 used for printing high-strength metal parts.

[0032] A powder supply device 130 is located inside the vacuum chamber 110 and is used to supply powder to the forming area 121. The powder is a high-strength metal powder, such as high-strength aluminum alloy powder, refractory metal powder, copper alloy powder, or high-strength steel powder.

[0033] An electron beam system 140 is positioned above the vacuum chamber 110 and is used to generate a high-energy electron beam capable of passing through the electron beam incident window 112. The scanning focusing range of the electron beam system 140 covers the forming area 121. The transmission direction of the high-energy electron beam emitted by the electron beam system in the high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 is as follows: Figure 1 The arrow is drawn at the midpoint.

[0034] The laser optical system 150 includes a laser 151, a field lens 152, a beam expander and collimator 153, and a galvanometer 154. The beam expander and collimator 153 faces the laser emission outlet of the laser 151. The galvanometer 154 is located on the side of the beam expander and collimator 153 away from the laser 151 and above the field lens 152, used to deflect the laser beam expanded by the beam expander and collimator 153 onto the field lens 152. The field lens 152 is located above the laser entrance window 111 and is used to allow the laser beam to pass through the laser entrance window 111 and vertically illuminate the working surface within the forming area 121.

[0035] The direction of laser beam transmission in the high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 is as follows: Figure 1 As shown by the dashed arrow, the laser 151 emits a laser beam to the beam expander collimator 153. The beam expander collimator 153 expands the diameter of the laser beam and illuminates the galvanometer 154. After being refracted by the galvanometer 154, the laser beam illuminates the field mirror 152. After being transmitted through the field mirror 152, a laser beam perpendicular to the image plane of the field mirror 152 is generated. This ensures that the laser beam can be perpendicularly illuminated on the working surface within the forming area 121 after passing through the laser incident window 111.

[0036] An anti-vapor deposition device 160 is installed on the vacuum chamber 110 and has a transparent film 161 that completely adheres to and covers the laser incident window 111. The transparent film 161 is installed on the laser incident window 111 to prevent the laser incident window 111 from being contaminated by metal vapor. Specifically, the transparent film 161 is a polymer material with good heat resistance and mechanical properties, such as biaxially oriented polypropylene film, biaxially oriented nylon film, or cast polypropylene film.

[0037] The aforementioned high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 combines the advantages of laser printing and electron beam printing. Specifically, it uses laser printing to obtain parts of the high-strength metal component with high dimensional accuracy requirements, and uses electron beam printing to obtain parts of the high-strength metal component with high mechanical strength requirements. Therefore, the aforementioned high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 obtains high-strength metal components with high dimensional accuracy and excellent mechanical properties by combining electron beam printing and laser printing, while also improving the printing efficiency of high-strength metal components.

[0038] Furthermore, by designing the laser path to be perpendicular to the working surface within the forming area 121, the forming accuracy of the laser path across the entire width can be ensured to be unaffected by factors such as the configuration and size of the forming component, thus greatly guaranteeing the dimensional accuracy of the printed component.

[0039] Practice has shown that the absolute value of the dimensional accuracy of high-strength metal parts obtained by printing with the above-mentioned high-strength metal parts integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 is ≤0.15mm / 100mm, and the printing efficiency is ≥80ml / h.

[0040] Therefore, the aforementioned high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment 100 has a high printing efficiency and can obtain high-strength metal components that have both high dimensional accuracy and high mechanical strength, so as to meet the precision manufacturing of difficult laser forming material systems such as high-strength aluminum alloy, refractory metal, copper alloy, and high-strength steel, and has broad engineering application prospects.

[0041] In some embodiments, the field lens 152 is a telecentric field lens 152. Compared to a conventional field lens 152, the telecentric field lens 152 has a longer working distance to ensure that the field lens 152 can provide a larger field of view and smaller distortion, ensuring that the laser beam incident through the laser incident window 111 is strictly perpendicular to the working surface for processing, further ensuring that the forming accuracy of the laser optical path in the full area is not affected by factors such as the configuration and size of the forming part, and further ensuring the dimensional accuracy of the high-strength metal part obtained by printing.

[0042] Specifically, the telecentric field lens 152 covers a wavelength range of 266nm to 1980nm, has a usable laser power of 50W to 1000W, and produces a laser focal spot diameter of 5μm to 90μm. This further ensures that the laser beam is perpendicular to the working surface and achieves better laser printing precision and accuracy, resulting in consistent processing effects across the entire field of view.

[0043] Specifically, the installation position of the telecentric field lens 152 is designed to allow for a working field of view of less than ±25° while meeting the requirements of full-width laser forming.

[0044] In some embodiments, the orthographic projection of the laser incident window 111 onto the working surface within the forming region 121 completely coincides with the working surface of the forming region 121. Specifically, the laser incident window 111 is located directly above the forming region 121.

[0045] That is, the laser incident window 111 and the working surface in the forming area 121 have the same shape and size, and their center lines are coaxial, so that the laser beam passing through the laser incident window 111 is exactly perpendicular to the working surface in the forming area 121.

[0046] To seal the laser incident window 111 and ensure that the laser beam can completely pass through it, in some embodiments, a high-transmittance glass is provided at the laser incident window 111. Specifically, the high-transmittance glass is embedded within the laser incident window 111. It should be explained that high-transmittance glass refers to glass with high transmittance and high light transmittance.

[0047] Of course, in other embodiments, the high-transparency glass can also be installed on the inner or outer wall of the vacuum chamber 110, as long as it can seal the laser incident window 111.

[0048] Furthermore, in some embodiments, the vacuum chamber 110 has through slots (not shown) on both sides of the laser incident window 111. The anti-evaporation device 160 also includes an unwinding assembly 162 and a winding assembly 153. The unwinding assembly 162 and the winding assembly 153 are spaced apart on the vacuum chamber 110. The laser incident window 111 is located between the unwinding assembly 162 and the winding assembly 153. A transparent film 161 is wound around the unwinding assembly 162, with one end passing through the two through slots and wound around the winding assembly 153, so that the transparent film 161 adheres tightly to the surface of the high-transparency glass. Specifically, the unwinding assembly 162 and the winding assembly 153 are located outside the vacuum chamber 110, and the transparent film 161 adheres tightly to the inner surface of the high-transparency glass.

[0049] Thus, by using the unwinding assembly 162 and the winding assembly 153 to tighten the transparent film 161 and increase its tension, the transparent film 161 is passed through the two through slots in sequence, ensuring that the transparent film 161 can be completely and precisely adhered to the surface of the high-transparency glass. This greatly improves the adhesion between the transparent film 161 and the high-transparency glass inside the laser incident window 111, thereby further reducing the probability of the laser incident window 111 being contaminated by metal vapor.

[0050] Specifically, the unwinding assembly 162 and the winding assembly 153 operate at speeds of 0.1 mm / min to 5 mm / min. Furthermore, the transparent film 161 inevitably becomes contaminated with metal vapor after prolonged use. By using the unwinding assembly 162 and the winding assembly 153 to dynamically adhere the transparent film 161 to the high-transparency glass, the transparent film 161 can slowly move during the printing process, thereby drawing the metal vapor-contaminated transparent film 161 into the winding assembly 153 and adhering the uncontaminated high-transparency film on the unwinding assembly 162 to the high-transparency glass. This prevents metal vapor from contaminating the laser incident window 111 while ensuring the light transmittance of the laser incident window 111, further improving the printing efficiency and dimensional accuracy of high-strength metal parts.

[0051] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined in any way. For the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0052] The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of several implementations of this utility model, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the utility model patent. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the inventive concept, and these all fall within the protection scope of this utility model. Therefore, the protection scope of this utility model patent should be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment, characterized in that, include: The vacuum chamber has a laser entrance window and an electron beam entrance window at the top. The workbench is at least partially located within the vacuum chamber; The portion of the workbench located within the vacuum chamber has a forming area; A powder supply device, located inside the vacuum chamber, is used to supply powder to the forming area; An electron beam system is positioned above the vacuum chamber and is used to generate a high-energy electron beam capable of passing through the electron beam incident window; the scanning focusing range of the electron beam system covers the forming area; A laser optical system includes a laser, a field lens, a beam expander and collimator, and a galvanometer. The beam expander and collimator faces the laser emission outlet of the laser. The galvanometer is located on the side of the beam expander and collimator away from the laser and above the field lens, used to deflect the laser beam expanded by the beam expander and collimator onto the field lens. The field lens is located above the laser incident window and is used to allow the laser beam to pass through the laser incident window and vertically irradiate the working surface within the forming area. An anti-evaporation device is installed on the vacuum chamber and has a transparent film that completely fits and covers the laser incident window.

2. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The field lens is a telecentric field lens.

3. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The telecentric field mirror has a coverage wavelength of 266nm to 1980nm, an usable laser power of 50W to 1000W, and a laser focal spot diameter of 5μm to 90μm.

4. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The working field of view of the telecentric field mirror is less than ±25°.

5. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The orthographic projection of the laser incident window onto the working surface within the forming area completely coincides with the working surface of the forming area.

6. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The laser incident window is equipped with high-transparency glass.

7. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 6, characterized in that, The vacuum chamber is provided with passage slots on both sides of the laser incident window; The anti-evaporation device further includes an unwinding assembly and a winding assembly; the unwinding assembly and the winding assembly are spaced apart on the vacuum chamber; the laser incident window is located between the unwinding assembly and the winding assembly; the transparent film is wound on the unwinding assembly, with one end passing through the two through slots in sequence and wound on the winding assembly, so that the transparent film adheres tightly to the surface of the high-transparency glass.

8. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 7, characterized in that, The unwinding assembly and the winding assembly operate at speeds of 0.1 mm / min to 5 mm / min.

9. The high-strength metal component integrated precision and high-efficiency additive manufacturing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The transparent film is a biaxially oriented polypropylene film, a biaxially oriented nylon film, or a cast polypropylene film.

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