Novel hybrid gas and ultrasonic powder delivery system for laser cladding and additive manufacturing

增材制造（AM）具有取代许多传统制造工艺的潜力。激光熔覆（LC）是一种增材制造技术，通过在表面上反复添加和熔化薄层材料来制造大型工程部件。复杂的三维形状和近形状的零件可以实现低构件变形和最小的热量输入。在lc中，添加剂材料的供应是控制工艺的关键因素之一。最有利和最广泛使用的方法是粉末注射。目前的LC技术是基于气体输送金属粉末到激光产生的熔池。这样做的一个主要缺点是，昂贵的粉末的浪费是高的，效率低至30%至70%。这是AM在更广泛应用中更广泛采用的一个关键障碍。先进激光技术（ALT）的商业机会是为LC开发一种新型的混合气体和超声波粉末输送系统。有明显的好处，包括100%的粉末效率，提高系统可靠性和更清洁，更安全的工作环境。

Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to replace many conventional manufacturing processes. Laser cladding (LC) is an AM technique for creating large engineering parts by repeatedly adding and fusing thin layers of materials to a surface. Complex 3D shapes and near shape parts can be achieved with low component distortion and minimum heat input. InLC, the supply of the additive material in one of the key factors controlling the process. The most advantageous and widely used method is powder injection. Current LC techniques are based on the gas delivery of metallic powders to the laser generated melt pool. A major drawback of this is that wastage of the expensive powder is high with efficiencies as low as30 to 70%. This is a key barrier to the wider adoption of AM to a broader range of applications. The business opportunity for Advanced Laser Technology (ALT) is to develop a novel hybrid gas and ultrasonic powder delivery system for LC. There are clear benefits including 100% powder efficiency, increased system reliability and a cleaner and safer workenvironment.