Laser Beam Steering for Stable Wire Additive Manufacturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional additive manufacturing apparatuses face challenges in achieving stable machining due to insufficient melting of the workpiece, leading to defects such as wire bending or obstruction, which are exacerbated by changes in the direction of the wire tip movement.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus incorporates a controller that adjusts the movement of the laser beam relative to the wire tip movement by using a beam drive unit and a first drive unit to control the machining head and beam nozzle, ensuring the laser beam moves differently from the wire tip, thereby accelerating melting and reducing defects.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the beam is moved in the same manner as the tip portion of the wire relative to the workpiece, then the control system is simple, but the workpiece melting becomes insufficient and wire defects occur
Solution Approach 1:
The beam movement is made dynamic and adaptive rather than static and fixed. The controller adjusts the beam movement in real-time based on the wire tip movement direction, allowing the system to adapt to changing machining conditions and prevent wire defects while maintaining operational simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control where the controller monitors the wire tip movement direction and uses this information to adjust the beam movement accordingly. This closed-loop control ensures the beam maintains optimal positioning relative to the workpiece regardless of wire movement variations, preventing melting insufficiency and wire defects.
2Manufacturing precision
If the beam movement is adjusted differently from wire tip movement, then stable machining is achieved, but the control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the movement parameters of the beam independently from the wire tip movement parameters. By adjusting beam position, speed, or trajectory parameters based on wire tip direction, the system achieves consistent bead width and stable machining while the controller manages the parameter adjustments automatically.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the wire tip moves in different directions, then machining flexibility is improved, but the likelihood of wire contact with insufficiently melted portions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by adjusting the beam movement in advance based on the detected wire tip movement direction. This proactive adjustment ensures the workpiece is properly melted before the wire contacts it, preventing defects even when the wire moves in different directions, thereby maintaining both flexibility and reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables stable machining by minimizing defects and maintaining consistent bead width, even with changes in wire tip direction, enhancing the manufacturing process's stability and quality.
Implementation Method 1
an additive manufacturing apparatus forms a bead by irradiating a material and a workpiece with a beam while feeding the material to a command position
Implementation Method 2
The bead is a solidified object obtained when a melted material is solidified on the workpiece
Data Source
AI summary
An additive manufacturing apparatus includes: a machining head; a beam nozzle through which a beam emitted from the machining head passes; a material feed unit that feeds a material to a workpiece; a first drive unit that moves a tip portion of the material relative to the workpiece; a second drive unit that moves the beam in a direction included in a reference plane perpendicular to a central axis of the beam nozzle; and a controller that determines, on the basis of a direction of travel, a direction of the movement of the beam, the direction of travel being included in the reference plane, the direction of travel being a direction in which the tip portion travels relative to the workpiece, and controls the first and second drive units such that the beam is movable in a manner different from movement of the tip portion relative to the workpiece.