Water-cooled cooling additive device

Abstract

The application relates to a water-cooling additive device, which comprises a printing substrate, a water-cooling plate and a laser cladding device. The printing substrate is attached to the water-cooling plate. The laser cladding device is arranged above the printing substrate and can move relative to the printing substrate. The water-cooling plate is provided with a flow channel for circulating cooling liquid. The application solves the problems of heat stress, deformation and cracking of the printed part caused by heat accumulation in laser cladding forming, low natural cooling efficiency and deterioration of the mechanical properties of the new forming layer caused by direct water cooling. The cooling liquid removes the heat transferred by the substrate through the flow channel, effectively controls the temperature and prevents heat accumulation. The cooling effect is indirectly transmitted through the substrate, avoiding direct cooling of the new forming layer, ensuring the mechanical properties of the printed part, and at the same time adapting to efficient printing, improving the forming precision and product quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of additive manufacturing technology, and in particular to a water-cooled additive manufacturing device. Background Technology

[0002] In additive manufacturing technology, especially in the field of laser cladding, the material undergoes rapid melting and solidification during the printing process, resulting in extremely high instantaneous temperatures in the printed area. As the number of printed layers increases, heat accumulates continuously, which can easily lead to significant thermal stress inside the printed part, causing defects such as deformation and cracking, seriously affecting the forming accuracy and product quality.

[0003] To eliminate the thermal stress generated inside the printed part, natural cooling is extremely inefficient and difficult to match the production rhythm of high-efficiency printing. Furthermore, excessively high interlayer temperatures will exacerbate the heat accumulation effect, leading to unstable subsequent forming quality. If direct water cooling is used to cool the printed area, although it can quickly reduce the temperature, the newly formed layer has just completed solidification. Direct contact with a strong cold source at this time will cause its temperature to drop sharply, which will disrupt the normal solidification and crystallization process of the material, resulting in coarse or uneven grain distribution. This will lead to a significant deterioration in the mechanical properties of the printed part, making it unable to meet the manufacturing requirements of high-performance components.

[0004] Therefore, how to ensure cooling efficiency to avoid excessively high interlayer temperatures while avoiding direct and drastic cooling of the newly formed layer to protect its mechanical properties has become a key technical problem that urgently needs to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In view of the shortcomings of the existing technology, the purpose of this application is to provide a water-cooled additive manufacturing device that can effectively control the interlayer temperature while ensuring cooling efficiency, thereby avoiding direct and drastic cooling of the newly formed layer and thus ensuring the mechanical properties of the printed part.

[0006] The above-mentioned objective of this application is achieved through the following technical solution:

[0007] A water-cooled additive manufacturing device includes a printing substrate, a water-cooled plate, and a laser cladding device. The printing substrate is mounted on the water-cooled plate, and the laser cladding device is disposed above the printing substrate. The laser cladding device and the printing substrate are movable relative to each other. The water-cooled plate has a flow channel for circulating coolant.

[0008] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the flow channel forms an inlet and an outlet on the side of the water-cooled plate.

[0009] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the water-cooled additive manufacturing device further includes a mounting plate, wherein the water-cooled plate is mounted on one side of the mounting plate, and the mounting plate is provided with a plurality of assembly holes.

[0010] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the mounting plate has a plurality of recesses on the side opposite to the water-cooling plate, and the mounting holes are correspondingly opened at the bottom of each of the recesses.

[0011] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the water-cooled additive manufacturing device further includes a moving component, which has a horizontal moving device, a vertical moving device, and a front-to-back moving device. The mounting plate is mounted on the horizontal moving device, the horizontal moving device is disposed on the front-to-back moving device, and the front-to-back moving device is disposed on the vertical moving device.

[0012] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the water-cooled additive manufacturing device further includes a heat dissipation plate assembly, which connects the mounting plate and the horizontal moving device.

[0013] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the heat sink assembly includes two raised plates and two raised blocks, the two raised blocks being disposed between the two raised plates and on both sides of the raised plates to form a gap between the two raised plates, and the two raised plates being respectively connected to the mounting plate and the horizontal moving device.

[0014] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the laser cladding device includes a laser wire feeding head, wherein the laser wire feeding head is provided with a laser channel and a plurality of wire feeding channels surrounding the laser channel.

[0015] As a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the laser cladding device includes a laser wire feeding head, wherein the laser wire feeding head is provided with a wire feeding channel and a plurality of laser channels surrounding the wire feeding channel.

[0016] In summary, the beneficial technical effects of this application are as follows:

[0017] 1. This application provides a flow channel within the water-cooled plate, allowing coolant to circulate within it. Simultaneously, by utilizing the bonding and mounting structure between the printing substrate and the water-cooled plate, the heat generated during the printing process can be transferred from the printing substrate to the water-cooled plate and carried away by the coolant, achieving effective cooling of the printing area. This solves the problem of thermal stress, deformation, and cracking of printed parts caused by heat accumulation, and is beneficial for improving the forming accuracy and product quality of printed parts.

[0018] 2. In this application, since the printing substrate is attached to the water-cooling plate, the cooling effect is indirectly transferred through the printing substrate rather than directly acting on the newly formed layer. This avoids direct and drastic cooling of the newly formed layer that has just solidified, and solves the problem that direct water cooling causes a sudden drop in the temperature of the newly formed layer, damages the crystallization process, and deteriorates the mechanical properties. This is beneficial to ensuring the mechanical properties of the printed parts and meeting the manufacturing requirements of high-performance components. Attached Figure Description

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the water-cooled additive manufacturing device.

[0020] Figure 2 This is a side view of a water-cooled additive manufacturing device.

[0021] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the water-cooled plate.

[0022] Figure 4 This is a cross-sectional view of the water-cooled plate.

[0023] Figure 5 This is a structural diagram of the mounting plate.

[0024] Figure 6 This is a structural diagram of the mounting plate.

[0025] The following are the reference numerals: 1. Water-cooled plate; 11. Inlet; 12. Outlet; 13. Plug; 2. Mounting plate; 21. Assembly hole; 22. Fixing hole; 23. Recess; 3. Upper shim plate; 4. Shim block; 5. Lower shim plate; 6. Moving component; 61. Vertical moving device; 62. Forward and backward moving device; 63. Horizontal moving device; 7. Laser wire feed head. Detailed Implementation

[0026] The present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0027] like Figures 1-2 The diagram illustrates a water-cooled additive manufacturing apparatus, comprising a printing substrate, a water-cooled plate 1, and a laser cladding device. The printing substrate serves as the carrier for the actual printing process in additive manufacturing. Its material can be selected based on the characteristics of the printing material. For example, in laser cladding of metal parts, a metal substrate with good compatibility with the printing material can be selected to ensure good bonding strength between the printed layer and the substrate.

[0028] The water-cooled plate 1 is the component that achieves the cooling function. It can be made of materials with excellent thermal conductivity, such as copper or aluminum alloy, to ensure efficient heat transfer. The water-cooled plate 1 has internal flow channels, such as... Figures 3-4 As shown, the internal flow channels of the water-cooled plate 1 are processed by drilling holes from the side, and all the holes formed by processing do not penetrate the entire water-cooled plate 1. This ensures the integrity of the overall structure of the water-cooled plate 1, avoids the risk of coolant leakage caused by the penetration of the holes, and maintains the structural strength of the water-cooled plate 1 itself to ensure that it can stably support the printed substrate.

[0029] In the specific processing, firstly along the longitudinal direction of the water-cooled plate 1, that is... Figure 4 In the vertical direction, several parallel channels are drilled from one side of the water-cooled plate 1, and then along the horizontal direction of the water-cooled plate 1, i.e. Figure 4 Along the left and right directions, several parallel channels are drilled from the other side, so that the longitudinal and transverse channels intersect and connect with each other inside the water-cooled plate 1, forming a crisscrossing channel network. This crisscrossing structural design can significantly increase the flow coverage of the coolant within the water-cooled plate 1, allowing all areas of the water-cooled plate 1 to fully contact the coolant, thereby achieving uniform heat dissipation of the water-cooled plate 1 and avoiding local heat accumulation.

[0030] To organize the aforementioned crisscrossing network of channels into a single continuous cooling circuit, some ports of the channels need to be sealed. For ports in the channel network that do not serve as coolant inlets or outlets and do not participate in the inter-channel communication, plugs 13 are used for sealing. Preferably, the plugs 13 can be threaded plugs 13, welded plugs 13, or interference fit plugs 13. Specifically, they can be connected to the end of the hole by threading, welding, or tight press fitting to ensure the sealing performance of the plug and prevent coolant leakage from these ports.

[0031] like Figure 4 As shown, through side drilling, cross-flow, and plug 13 sealing, a flow channel is finally formed inside the water-cooled plate 1. The flow channel is continuous and has a single flow direction. Specifically, the flow path of the coolant in the entire flow channel is continuous and unique. There is no branching, reverse flow, or disordered flow. It always flows from the inlet to the outlet along the preset single loop path.

[0032] Specifically, by blocking the unnecessary ports of the intersecting channels with plug 13, the channel network that might have formed multiple streams is sorted into a single continuous channel. After the coolant flows in from the inlet end of the flow channel, it will move forward along the longitudinal and transverse directions of the channel. There are no other branch channels to choose from for the coolant to flow, and there will be no situation where some coolant flows back to the upstream channel.

[0033] This single-direction flow design ensures that the coolant maintains a stable flow rate and velocity within the flow channel, preventing insufficient coolant flow and uneven heat dissipation in local channels due to flow diversion, or local heat accumulation caused by eddies formed by reverse flow. At the same time, the single flow direction also allows the coolant to flow fully through the longitudinal and transverse channels inside the water-cooled plate 1, maximizing coverage of the heat dissipation area of ​​the water-cooled plate 1, further improving heat dissipation efficiency, ensuring temperature uniformity of the printed substrate, and thus better preventing thermal stress caused by local temperature differences in the printed parts.

[0034] A flow channel is formed on the side of the water-cooled plate 1, with an inlet 11 for injecting coolant and an outlet 12 for discharging coolant. The inlet 11 and outlet 12 are connected to an external coolant storage device. After the coolant flows in through the inlet 11, it flows sequentially along the crisscrossing channels, fully absorbing the heat on the water-cooled plate 1, and then flows out through the outlet 12 of the loop. This achieves efficient circulation and heat dissipation of the coolant, while the non-through-hole design and the sealing of the plug 13 ensure the structural stability and reliability of the water-cooled plate 1.

[0035] The printing substrate and the water-cooling plate 1 are installed and fixed by bonding. This bonding means that there is a large contact area and tight contact between the two. Preferably, it can be achieved by bolt fastening, welding or other mechanical fixing methods to minimize the contact thermal resistance between the two and ensure that the heat on the printing substrate can be quickly transferred to the water-cooling plate 1.

[0036] The laser cladding device is positioned directly above the printing substrate, and the laser cladding device and the printing substrate can move relative to each other. In a preferred embodiment, the laser cladding device is fixed, while the printing substrate moves. In another preferred embodiment, the printing substrate is fixed, while the laser cladding device moves. Through the relative movement between the laser cladding device and the printing substrate, the laser cladding device can complete the layer-by-layer cladding operation on the printing substrate along a preset printing path, thereby achieving the complete forming of the entire part.

[0037] In actual operation, the laser cladding device generates a large amount of heat when performing cladding operations on the surface of the printing substrate. This heat is first transferred to the printing substrate and then conducted to the water-cooling plate 1 through the tightly fitting contact surface. At the same time, the coolant continuously circulates within the flow channels of the water-cooling plate 1, constantly absorbing and carrying away the heat from the water-cooling plate 1, thereby achieving effective cooling of the printing area. Since the heat is indirectly transferred to the water-cooling plate 1 through the printing substrate, rather than the coolant directly acting on the newly formed cladding layer, the performance degradation problem caused by the sudden cooling of the newly formed layer can be avoided.

[0038] Further, see Figures 5-6 As shown, a mounting plate 2 is also provided to ensure stable installation of the water-cooled plate 1. The water-cooled plate 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the mounting plate 2. Several mounting holes 21 are provided on the mounting plate 2. During actual assembly, bolts or screws are used to fix the water-cooled plate 1 and the mounting plate 2 through the mounting holes 21, facilitating disassembly when maintenance or replacement of the water-cooled plate 1 is required. Furthermore, to further improve the tightness of the fit between the two, a thermally conductive pad is added between the contact surfaces of the water-cooled plate 1 and the mounting plate 2, which fills the small gaps and assists in heat transfer.

[0039] In addition, on the other surface of the mounting plate 2 opposite to the water-cooling plate 1, there are several recessed structures 23. The depth of the recesses 23 is slightly greater than the thickness of the bolt head or screw head to ensure that the bolt head or screw head does not protrude from the surface of the mounting plate 2 after installation.

[0040] Furthermore, these recesses 23 correspond one-to-one with the mounting holes 21 on the mounting plate 2, meaning that each recess 23 has a mounting hole 21 at its bottom. The advantage of this design is that when bolts or screws are installed through the mounting holes 21 to fix the mounting plate 2 to the external structure, the heads of the bolts or screws can be completely embedded in the corresponding recesses 23, without protruding from the surface of the mounting plate 2 away from the water-cooled plate 1. This avoids the mounting plate 2 not fitting tightly to the external structure due to protruding bolt or screw heads, thus preventing shaking during operation. Simultaneously, the recesses 23 also serve a positioning function, allowing for quick alignment of bolts or screws during assembly, reducing alignment time and improving assembly efficiency. Overall, the mounting plate 2 not only provides a stable load-bearing foundation for the water-cooled plate 1, but the matching design of its mounting holes 21 and recesses 23 further optimizes the assembly convenience and structural compactness of the entire device, ensuring stable operation.

[0041] Furthermore, in order to enable the mounting plate 2 to drive the water-cooled plate 1, and in turn drive the printing substrate to flexibly adjust its position so as to accurately cooperate with the laser cladding device to complete the preset printing path, this application also provides a moving component 6. The moving component 6 consists of a horizontal moving device 63, a vertical moving device 61, and a front-to-back moving device 62, and all three adopt a linear guide rail structure. With the characteristics of smooth movement and high precision of the linear guide rail, the stability and positional accuracy of the entire moving process are guaranteed.

[0042] The horizontal moving device 63 employs a horizontal linear guide rail, specifically a common ball bearing linear guide rail. It primarily comprises a horizontal guide rail body and a matching horizontal slider. The horizontal guide rail body is elongated and extends horizontally. The horizontal slider can slide smoothly along the length of the horizontal guide rail body. The two components are in rolling contact via ball bearings, resulting in a very low coefficient of friction, effectively reducing resistance and wear during movement. The mounting plate 2 is fixed to the upper surface of the horizontal slider. When the horizontal slider moves along the horizontal guide rail body, it directly drives the mounting plate 2, as well as the water-cooled plate 1 and the printing substrate mounted on the mounting plate 2, to perform synchronous horizontal reciprocating motion.

[0043] Furthermore, to precisely control the moving distance and speed of the horizontal slider, the horizontal moving device 63 is also equipped with a drive mechanism consisting of a servo motor and a ball screw. The screw shaft of the ball screw is arranged parallel to the horizontal guide rail body, and the screw nut is fixedly connected to the horizontal slider. The output shaft of the servo motor is connected to the screw shaft through a coupling. When the servo motor starts, its output torque is transmitted to the screw shaft through the coupling, causing the screw nut to move linearly along the screw shaft, thereby driving the horizontal slider to slide precisely along the horizontal guide rail body. This drive method can achieve millimeter-level position control, fully meeting the requirements of additive manufacturing for horizontal motion accuracy.

[0044] The forward and backward moving device 62 also uses a ball linear guide, i.e., a forward and backward linear guide, whose structure is the same as that of the horizontal linear guide, including the forward and backward guide body and the forward and backward sliders that can slide along it. The forward and backward guide body extends in the forward and backward direction. The horizontal guide body in the horizontal moving device 63 is fixed to the upper surface of the forward and backward sliders. In this way, when the forward and backward sliders move linearly along the forward and backward guide body, they will synchronously drive the horizontal moving device 63, as well as the mounting plate 2, water-cooling plate 1, and printing substrate connected to the horizontal moving device 63, to move in the forward and backward direction. To ensure the matching of the motion accuracy in the forward and backward direction with the horizontal direction, the forward and backward moving device 62 also adopts a servo motor and ball screw drive structure. The ball screw in the forward and backward direction is set parallel to the forward and backward guide body, and the screw nut is fixed to the forward and backward sliders. When the servo motor is running, it drives the forward and backward sliders to move through the ball screw, avoiding misalignment of the printing layer due to forward and backward movement errors and ensuring the continuity of the printing path.

[0045] The vertical moving device 61 employs a ball linear guide adapted for vertical movement. It includes a vertical guide body and a vertical slider. The vertical guide body is fixed vertically, while the vertical slider can slide along the height of the vertical guide body. The front and rear guide bodies in the front and rear moving device 62 are fixed to the vertical slider. When the vertical slider moves up and down along the vertical guide body, it drives the front and rear moving device 62, the horizontal moving device 63, the mounting plate 2, the water-cooled plate 1, and the printing substrate to move vertically synchronously. This allows for height adjustment of the printing substrate to meet the layer-by-layer printing requirements of the laser cladding device. To prevent the vertical slider from tilting or wobbling due to uneven load distribution, the drive mechanism of the vertical moving device 61 can symmetrically arrange two sets of servo motors and ball screws on both sides of the vertical guide body. Through dual-drive synchronous control, it ensures that the vertical slider always moves smoothly in the vertical direction, further improving the vertical movement accuracy and stability.

[0046] Through the superposition and assembly of the linear guide rail moving devices in the horizontal, forward and backward, and vertical directions, the mounting plate 2 can drive the water-cooled plate 1 and the printing substrate to achieve precise omnidirectional movement in three mutually perpendicular directions. Combined with the fixed setting of the laser cladding device, it can be ensured that the laser cladding device can complete the cladding operation layer by layer on the printing substrate according to the preset printing path, effectively avoiding problems such as printing size deviation and interlayer misalignment caused by movement errors. At the same time, the low friction characteristics of the ball linear guide rail make the entire movement process smoother, and the driving method of the servo motor and ball screw ensures the motion accuracy, providing reliable support for the forming accuracy and quality stability of the printed parts.

[0047] To further optimize the connection stability between the mounting plate 2 and the horizontal moving device 63 and to help improve the heat dissipation effect, this application also provides a heat dissipation plate assembly between the mounting plate 2 and the horizontal moving device 63. The heat dissipation plate assembly not only serves to connect the mounting plate 2 and the horizontal moving device 63, but also reduces the excessive heat transfer between the two through its own structural design, so as to avoid the horizontal moving device 63 from being affected by heat and thus affecting its motion accuracy.

[0048] The heat sink assembly consists of two raised plates and two raised blocks 4. The two raised plates are an upper raised plate 3 and a lower raised plate 5. The upper raised plate 3 is located above the heat sink assembly and is fixedly connected to the lower surface of the mounting plate 2. The mounting plate 2 has fixing holes 22 through which the upper raised plate 3 connects to the mounting plate 2. The lower raised plate 5 is located below the heat sink assembly and is fixed to the upper surface of the horizontal slider of the horizontal moving device 63. The dimensions of the lower raised plate 5 are consistent with those of the upper raised plate 3 to ensure precise alignment during subsequent assembly and avoid uneven force due to dimensional deviations.

[0049] Two shims 4 are positioned between the two raised plates and are distributed on both sides of the raised plates. Preferably, the raised plates are rectangular, and the two shims 4 are fixed to the two ends of the rectangular raised plate along its length, forming a symmetrical distribution. The shims 4 are fixed to the raised plates with screws. Threaded holes are pre-drilled on the upper and lower end faces of the shims 4, and countersunk holes are made at corresponding positions on the upper raised plate 3 and the lower raised plate 5. The countersunk screws are passed through the countersunk holes and screwed into the threaded holes of the shims 4. The countersunk design ensures that the screw heads do not protrude from the surface of the raised plate, avoiding affecting the fit between the raised plate and the mounting plate 2 and the horizontal slider.

[0050] With the support of two shims 4 on both sides of the two raised plates, a gap is naturally formed between the two raised plates. The existence of this gap is important. On the one hand, the mounting plate 2 will indirectly absorb a small amount of heat transferred from the water-cooled plate 1 during operation. The gap can form an air convection channel, allowing this part of the heat to be quickly dissipated through airflow, preventing heat transfer to the horizontal slider or drive mechanism of the horizontal moving device 63. If the horizontal moving device 63 is heated, it may cause changes in the guide rail clearance or thermal expansion and contraction of the lead screw, thus affecting the motion accuracy. The heat dissipation function of the gap can effectively avoid this problem. On the other hand, the symmetrical distribution of the shims 4 can ensure that the supporting force between the two raised plates is balanced, preventing the upper raised plate 3 from bending and deforming due to concentrated force, thereby ensuring that the mounting plate 2 is always in a horizontal state, indirectly ensuring the levelness of the printing substrate, and preventing uneven printing layer thickness due to substrate tilt.

[0051] Overall, the heat dissipation plate assembly, through the cooperation of two raised plates and two raised blocks 4, not only achieves a stable connection between the mounting plate 2 and the horizontal moving device 63, but also plays an auxiliary role in heat dissipation through the gap formed by the raised blocks 4, while taking into account the balance of structural support, thus providing dual protection for the motion accuracy and heat dissipation effect of the entire device.

[0052] The laser cladding device includes a laser wire feeder 7. The core function of the laser wire feeder 7 is to accurately deliver a high-energy laser beam to the printing area and simultaneously deliver the welding wire for printing in order to achieve the cladding and forming of the material. Its internal structural design directly affects the laser energy utilization rate and the cladding quality of the welding wire.

[0053] In a preferred embodiment, a laser channel is provided at the center of the laser wire feed head 7. This laser channel is a hollow channel extending along the axis of the laser wire feed head 7, serving as a dedicated transmission path for the laser beam. To prevent energy loss during laser transmission due to reflection or friction from the inner wall of the channel, the inner wall of the laser channel undergoes special treatment, such as forming a ceramic coating using plasma spraying technology. This coating not only possesses excellent high-temperature resistance, capable of withstanding the localized high temperatures during laser beam transmission, but also reduces laser energy absorption and scattering, ensuring that the laser beam is transmitted to the surface of the printed substrate with high energy density. Simultaneously, the aperture size of the laser channel is designed to match the output spot diameter of the selected laser. The aperture of the laser channel is slightly larger than the laser spot diameter, preventing the laser beam from contacting the inner wall of the channel while also providing a guiding effect through the channel, preventing the laser beam from deviating during transmission and ensuring that it accurately acts on the preset cladding area, providing a stable energy source for the subsequent melting of the welding wire.

[0054] Outside the laser channel, multiple wire feeding channels are evenly distributed around the laser channel. These wire feeding channels are also hollow channels extending along the axis of the laser wire feeding head 7. The number of wire feeding channels can be flexibly set according to printing requirements, preferably 3 to 6. Each wire feeding channel is symmetrically distributed around the laser channel. This symmetrical arrangement design ensures that the welding wires delivered by each wire feeding channel can be evenly converged to the laser action point from different directions when they reach the molten pool on the surface of the printing substrate, avoiding the problem of welding wire accumulation or uneven thickness of the cladding layer caused by wire feeding in a single direction. The inner wall of the wire feeding channel needs to maintain a high degree of smoothness. It should be made of hard alloy material or chrome-plated on the inner wall of ordinary steel channel to reduce the frictional resistance between the welding wire and the inner wall of the channel during the feeding process, reduce the wear on the surface of the welding wire, and prevent the welding wire debris generated by friction from clogging the channel. In addition, a welding wire guide sleeve is installed at the inlet end of each wire feeding channel. The guide sleeve is made of wear-resistant polytetrafluoroethylene or brass, which can play a preliminary guiding role before the welding wire enters the channel, further improve the straightness of the welding wire feeding, and prevent the welding wire from getting stuck or swaying in the channel.

[0055] During the actual cladding process, the high-energy laser beam output by the laser reaches the surface of the printing substrate directly along the laser channel of the laser wire feed head 7, rapidly forming a high-temperature molten pool on the substrate surface. Simultaneously, the external wire feeding mechanism feeds the welding wire into each wire feeding channel, smoothly transporting the wire along the channel to the top of the molten pool. Under the high temperature of the laser beam, the wire rapidly melts and integrates into the molten pool. Because the wire feeding channels are symmetrically distributed around the laser channel, the welding wire from all directions can enter the molten pool evenly, fully fusing with the substrate within the pool, ultimately forming a uniformly thick and tightly bonded cladding layer. This structural design, with a central laser channel and surrounding wire feeding channels, ensures precise laser energy transfer and improves the uniformity of the welding wire cladding through multi-channel symmetrical wire feeding. It effectively avoids cladding layer defects that are prone to occur with single-channel wire feeding, such as porosity, inclusions, and segregation, thus guaranteeing the forming quality and mechanical properties of the cladding layer on the printed part.

[0056] In another preferred embodiment, a wire feeding channel is located at the center of the laser wire feeder 7. This channel is a hollow passage running along the axis of the laser wire feeder 7 and serves as a dedicated feeding path for the welding wire used in printing. To ensure the welding wire maintains straightness and reduces frictional loss during feeding, the inner wall of the wire feeding channel is precision-machined to ensure extremely high smoothness. It is made of hard alloy or high-strength ceramic materials, which not only have excellent wear resistance and can withstand the friction caused by long-term wire feeding, but also maintain structural stability in high-temperature environments, preventing channel deformation caused by localized high temperatures generated by laser radiation. The inlet end of the wire feeding channel can be fitted with a wire guiding mechanism, such as a guide sleeve with ball bearings, to further reduce the frictional resistance between the welding wire and the channel through rolling contact, preventing scratches or debris from clogging the channel due to friction on the welding wire surface. The outlet end of the channel is designed with a tapered structure, with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the welding wire. This precisely constrains the output direction of the welding wire, ensuring that it is fed vertically into the cladding area, while preventing the welding wire from making rigid contact with the outlet end, which could lead to deviation.

[0057] On the outside of the wire feeding channel, multiple laser channels are evenly distributed around it. These laser channels are also hollow channels extending along the axis of the laser wire feeding head 7. Preferably, there are 3 to 6 channels, and each laser channel is symmetrically distributed around the wire feeding channel. Each laser channel corresponds to an independent laser transmission component, such as an optical fiber collimator and a focusing lens group, used to focus the laser beam output from the external laser and transmit it along the channel to the printing area. The inner wall treatment of the laser channel needs to balance high temperature resistance and low energy loss. Typically, a layer of high reflectivity material is coated using vacuum coating technology to reduce energy absorption during laser transmission within the channel, ensuring that more laser energy can act on the cladding area. At the same time, the axis of the channel and the axis of the wire feeding channel form a preset angle, preferably as low as 5° to 15°, so that the laser beams output from each laser channel can ultimately be focused at the same point directly below the exit end of the wire feeding channel, i.e., the contact area between the welding wire and the printing substrate, forming a high-temperature action zone with concentrated and uniform energy distribution.

[0058] In actual cladding operations, an external wire feeding mechanism, such as a servo-driven wire feeding wheel assembly, stably feeds the welding wire along the central wire feeding channel. After the tip of the welding wire extends out of the wire feeding channel outlet, it immediately enters the focusing area formed by multiple laser beams output from surrounding laser channels. The high-energy heat of the laser beams rapidly melts the tip of the welding wire and the surface of the printing substrate below, forming a uniformly heated molten pool. As the welding wire continues to be fed, the molten wire continuously merges into the molten pool. At the same time, the laser cladding device and the printing substrate move relative to each other, causing the molten pool to expand and solidify along a preset path, ultimately forming a continuous cladding layer.

[0059] This structural design, featuring a central wire feeding channel combined with surrounding laser channels, offers significant advantages. On one hand, the central wire feeding ensures that the welding wire is always at the focal point of the laser energy, preventing incomplete melting or energy waste caused by wire deviation. On the other hand, multiple surrounding laser channels provide energy from different directions, effectively eliminating the shadowing effect that can easily occur with a single laser beam. The shadowing effect occurs when the welding wire blocks part of the laser, leading to uneven heating of the substrate. This results in a more uniform temperature distribution within the molten pool, reducing defects such as porosity and cracks caused by localized overheating. Simultaneously, it promotes full fusion between the welding wire and the substrate, improving the density and mechanical properties of the cladding layer and providing a reliable guarantee for high-quality printing.

[0060] The embodiments described in this specific implementation are preferred embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, all equivalent changes made in accordance with the structure, shape and principle of this application should be covered within the scope of protection of this application.

Claims

1. A water-cooled additive manufacturing device, characterized in that, The device includes a printing substrate, a water-cooled plate (1), and a laser cladding device. The printing substrate is mounted on the water-cooled plate (1), and the laser cladding device is disposed above the printing substrate. The laser cladding device and the printing substrate are movable relative to each other. The water-cooled plate (1) is provided with a flow channel for the flow of coolant. It also includes a mounting plate (2), on which the water-cooled plate (1) is mounted, and the mounting plate (2) is provided with a plurality of mounting holes (21); It also includes a moving component (6), which has a horizontal moving device (63), a vertical moving device (61) and a front-to-back moving device (62). The mounting plate (2) is mounted on the horizontal moving device (63), the horizontal moving device (63) is disposed on the front-to-back moving device (62), and the front-to-back moving device (62) is disposed on the vertical moving device (61). It also includes a heat sink assembly that connects the mounting plate (2) to the horizontal moving device (63).

2. The water-cooled additive manufacturing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The flow channel forms an inlet (11) and an outlet (12) on the side of the water-cooled plate (1).

3. The water-cooled additive manufacturing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The mounting plate (2) has several recesses (23) on the side opposite to the water-cooled plate (1), and the mounting holes (21) are opened one by one at the bottom of each recess (23).

4. The water-cooled additive manufacturing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The heat sink assembly includes two raised plates and two raised blocks (4). The two raised blocks (4) are disposed between the two raised plates and on both sides of the raised plates to form a gap between the two raised plates. The two raised plates are respectively connected to the mounting plate (2) and the horizontal moving device (63).

5. The water-cooled additive manufacturing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The laser cladding device includes a laser wire feeding head (7), which has a laser channel and multiple wire feeding channels surrounding the laser channel.

6. The water-cooled additive manufacturing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The laser cladding device includes a laser wire feed head (7), which has a wire feed channel and multiple laser channels surrounding the wire feed channel.

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