A Study of Directionality Effects in Three-Beam Coaxial Titanium Wire-Based Laser Metal Deposition

Area of Science:

• Additive Manufacturing
• Materials Science
• Laser Processing

Background:

• Coaxial wire-based laser metal deposition offers high deposition rates for complex structures.
• Achieving symmetrical bead geometry is crucial for defect-free additive manufacturing.
• Multi-beam laser systems present unique challenges in maintaining symmetry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of deposition direction and rate on bead symmetry in a three-beam coaxial wire system.
• To quantitatively assess the symmetry of deposited titanium beads.
• To determine if the three-beam system is directionally dependent.

Main Methods:

• Deposition of single titanium beads using a three-beam coaxial wire laser system.
• Varying deposition directions and rates.
• Quantitative analysis of bead profile symmetry using multiple measures.
• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine significance of factors.

Main Results:

• Deposition direction was found to be insignificant in affecting bead symmetry.
• Deposition rate was also found to be insignificant for the developed symmetry measures.
• The three-beam coaxial wire deposition setup demonstrated directional independence.

Conclusions:

• The three-beam coaxial wire laser metal deposition process is directionally independent.
• Bead symmetry is not significantly influenced by deposition direction or rate in this setup.
• This finding supports the reliability of the process for manufacturing complex, defect-free components.