A method and an apparatus for collecting a powdered material after a print job in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing may involve a build platform supporting a powder bed capable of tilting, inverting, and shaking to separate the powder bed substantially from the build platform in a hopper. The powdered material may be collected in a hopper for reuse in later print jobs. The powder collecting process may be automated to increase efficiency of powder bed fusion additive manufacturing.

This invention relates to a method for manufacturing a metal part which comprises attaching a powder forged or wrought outer raced ID splined plate to a powdered metal inner splined connection gear, wherein the outer raced ID splined plate incorporates a female ID profile on the race, wherein the inner splined connection gear contains a mail OD profile on the exterior of the part, and wherein the splined plate and the splined connection gear are attached together by (1) sinter brazing, (2) laser brazing, (3) laser welding, (4) sintering a mechanical joint, or (5) staking. In practicing this method a tight mechanical joint is formed between the splined plate and the splined connection gear which can be made of highly dissimilar materials, such as a wrought metal and a sintered powder metal.

An integral ring gear and torque arm for a wind turbine gearbox and method of manufacturing same includes forming the ring gear and the associated gear housing as a single part using the same material, e.g., using a casting process. Further, the ring gear defines an inner circumferential surface having a plurality of gear teeth. Thus, the method also includes applying a coating material to the gear teeth of the ring gear via an additive manufacturing process, such as cold spraying, so as to increase a hardness of gear teeth.

A method for welding a first component to a second component includes providing a first component of a first alloy and having coating of a second alloy on a face of the first component, and solid state welding a second component of a third alloy to the coating of the first component. The second alloy includes only non-ferrous compounds.

A vehicular differential device includes a differential case, a ring gear, and a welded portion positioned on an abutting surface where the differential case and the ring gear are in contact with each other. The welded portion is configured to join the differential case and the ring gear for integral rotation of the differential case and the ring gear around a rotation axis of the vehicular differential device. The welded portion includes a plurality of welding surfaces positioned at predetermined intervals along a circumferential direction around the rotation axis.

A method of additive manufacture suitable for large and high resolution structures is disclosed. The method may include sequentially advancing each portion of a continuous part in the longitudinal direction from a first zone to a second zone. In the first zone, selected granules of a granular material may be amalgamated. In the second zone, unamalgamated granules of the granular material may be removed. The method may further include advancing a first portion of the continuous part from the second zone to a third zone while (1) a last portion of the continuous part is formed within the first zone and (2) the first portion is maintained in the same position in the lateral and transverse directions that the first portion occupied within the first zone and the second zone.

A method and an apparatus pertaining to recycling and reuse of unwanted light in additive manufacturing can multiplex multiple beams of light including at least one or more beams of light from one or more light sources. The multiple beams of light may be reshaped and blended to provide a first beam of light. A spatial polarization pattern may be applied on the first beam of light to provide a second beam of light. Polarization states of the second beam of light may be split to reflect a third beam of light, which may be reshaped into a fourth beam of light. The fourth beam of light may be introduced as one of the multiple beams of light to result in a fifth beam of light.

A double side welding method used for producing a differential gear for welding a weld part to join a ring gear fitted on a gear case from both sides. The method uses welding distortion caused by welding to improve product accuracy. The method includes welding from both sides of a weld part where a first member and a second member, which are the objects being joined, face each other. The method is performed by first welding, which is performed from one side, and second welding, which is performed from the other opposite side from that first welding. Heat quantity adjustment, that adjusts the quantity of heat input to the weld part for the second welding, is performed after the first welding, and is carried out such that an amount of welding distortion that is the objective arises.

A method for joining a carburized steel workpiece to a cast iron workpiece is provided that includes tempering a localized area of the carburized steel workpiece, machining the localized area to reduce carbon content, and welding the carburized steel workpiece to the cast iron workpiece at the localized area. The tempering may be performed by induction heating and results in a hardness profile of the localized area of less than 50 HRC.

A system for making a welded assembly. The system may include a welding system that is configured to weld a first part to a second part with a laser beam. The system may further include an integrated feeder nozzle that includes an inlet manifold that receives a shield gas, and a nozzle body secured to the inlet manifold. The nozzle body may include a plurality of peripheral apertures that extend through the conical distal region and that are arranged around a central axis of the nozzle body. The system may further include a wire feeder disposed in the inlet manifold and the nozzle body. The wire feeder receives a welding wire and guides the welding wire to the central aperture.