Automation and modeling of a novel laser cladding process to repair and rebuild worn components for extreme applications

新型激光熔覆工艺的自动化和建模，用于修复和重建极端应用的磨损部件

• 批准号: 537378-2018
• 负责人: Ahmad, Rafiq
• 金额: $ 2.94万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Collaborative Research and Development Grants
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=699312
• 关键词: Automation; modeling; novel; laser; cladding

One of the most promising areas in manufacturing is what is called "advanced manufacturing," which commonly refers to the new possibilities offered by lasers and additive manufacturing processes. While this technology is well-established in polymers ("3D printing"), applying this technique to metals brings challenges that significantly affect the feasibility on an industrial scale in manufacturing. This project focuses on a specific subset of the area of additive manufacturing, and targets the repair of parts that have been worn out in extreme applications. Such applications include the resource-based industries that experience extreme abrasion in hard-rock mining and oilsands extraction, extreme high-speed wood cutting, and the manufacturing of composites for the aerospace industry, including hot-stages of thrust-vectoring nozzles. The repair welds that take a worn part and bring it back to its original shape have been demonstrated to be very effective, as they can improve the material properties beyond those of the original part, while also reducing the environmental impact. Two main technologies are used in this approach, one involving the deposition of layers (e.g. laser cladding), and another the buildup of 3D structures (e.g. additive manufacturing). However, as each part is unique, the process of making such repairs is currently labour intense, and new processes for 3D scanning and programming the welds are necessary to make the technology economically feasible for more industries. The project will develop novel techniques and processes to scan, program, and weld such parts. The complexities of the project stem from the required combination of part localization, identification and quantification of the damaged part with robust 3D reconstruction and comparison using 3D point-cloud data information, and the tool path planning based on the material behavior. The intrinsic properties of metals during the deposition process results in material transformations and residual stresses throughout the newly deposited material, which require a thorough investigation, and need to be taken into consideration in the toolpath planning. The goal is to create an automated system with Industry 4.0 capabilities that controls the process parameters for repair.

制造业中最有前途的领域之一是所谓的“先进制造”，它通常指的是激光和附加制造工艺提供的新可能性。虽然这项技术在聚合物(“3D打印”)中已经很成熟，但将这项技术应用于金属带来了挑战，极大地影响了工业规模制造的可行性。该项目专注于添加剂制造领域的一个特定子集，目标是修复在极端应用中已磨损的部件。这类应用包括在硬岩采矿和油砂开采中经历极端磨损的资源型行业、极端高速木材切割，以及航空航天工业的复合材料制造，包括推力矢量喷嘴的热阶段。将磨损的部分修复并使其恢复原始形状的修复焊缝已被证明是非常有效的，因为它们可以改善原始部分的材料性能，同时还减少了对环境的影响。在这种方法中使用了两种主要技术，一种涉及层的沉积(例如激光熔覆)，另一种涉及3D结构的建立(例如添加制造)。然而，由于每个部件都是独一无二的，目前进行这种修复的过程是劳动强度很大的，为了使这项技术在经济上适用于更多的行业，有必要采用新的3D扫描和焊接编程工艺。该项目将开发新的技术和工艺来扫描、编程和焊接这些部件。该项目的复杂性源于需要将零件定位、受损零件的识别和量化与稳健的3D重建和使用3D点云数据信息进行比较，以及基于材料行为的刀具路径规划相结合。金属在沉积过程中的固有性质导致了新沉积材料的材料转变和残余应力，这需要进行彻底的调查，并需要在刀具路径规划中考虑在内。目标是创建一个具有Industry 4.0功能的自动化系统，以控制维修过程参数。