Product Code: ICAL06_2004

Real-Time Prediction of Dilution for Automated Laser Powder Deposition Process
Authors:
Alireza Fathi, University of Waterloo; Waterloo ON Canada
Ehsan Toyserkani, University of Waterloo; Waterloo ON Canada
Amir Khajepour, University of Waterloo; Waterloo ON Canada
Presented at ICALEO 2006

This paper presents a mathematical model of laser powder deposition to predict the dilution. The model validated by experiments is developed using the moving heat source method. In this method, the temperature distribution inside the clad and the substrate is obtained using the superposition principle and the solution of the heat diffusion due to a point heat source. The model predicts the melt pool depth and dilution as a function of clad height and clad width which in practice can be measured by a vision system. Since the dilution cannot be measured directly, this model, which is not computationally intensive, can effectively be incorporated into the real-time control of the process. Several findings, including dilution-velocity map and temperature distribution will be presented in this paper.