A weld joint includes a first component of a first material and a second component of a ductile second material dissimilar from the first material. A planar face of the first component abuts a planar face of the second component. A V shaped weld groove is created in the first component defining a first groove end where a substantially planar groove face of the first component intersects a plane defined by the planar face of the second component below an end face of the second component. A slot is created below the groove end in the planar face of the second component having a closed end facing toward the end face of the second component and extending away from the planar face of the second component at an angle measured with respect to a central longitudinal axis of the slot.

Additive manufacturing can involve dispensing a powdered material to form a layer of a powder bed on a support surface of a build platform. A portion of the layer of the powder bed may be selectively melted or fused to form one or more temporary walls out of the fused portion of the layer of the powder bed to contain another portion of the layer of the powder bed on the build platform.

A toothed transmission element includes a partial region formed with a first material, teeth defining an edge region which is formed additively with a second material having a hardness which is greater than a hardness of the first material, and a third material located between the first material and the second material, wherein a hardness decreases stepwise along a section leading from the edge region to the partial region.

A weld includes a first component and a second component. The first component includes a fay surface with one or more grooves. The second component includes a surface that is configured to mate with the fay surface of the first component. The fay surface of the first component and the surface of the second component form a friction weld when the two surfaces are mated together and relative motion between the first component and the second component generates heat through mechanical friction between the two components.

A method of manufacturing gear teeth by additive manufacturing. Each tooth (20) is constructed from a predetermined number of layers (30, 31, 32) of material (e.g. steel) with each layer being formed by a predetermined number of rows (33-41) of material preferably applied by a welding head (13) or equivalent apparatus.

A method for manufacturing a gear includes providing a rim gear, a hub and a core wherein the core is annular and has a core forging temperature below a hot hardness temperature of the rim gear and the hub. The rim gear and the hub are rotated about an axis relative to the core. During the relative rotation, the rim gear and the hub are in contact with the core to generate friction heat to raise an interface temperature of the core to the core forging temperature. The hub is driven into the core to upset a first portion of the core into an outer annular groove defined in a first faying surface of the hub. The rim gear is driven over the core to upset a second portion of the core into an inner annular groove defined in a second faying surface of the rim gear.

A method for forming welded assembly. The method includes: providing a gear workpiece; forming a joining section on the gear workpiece that defines a weld interface; applying a material to the outside surface of the gear workpiece including the joining section; cutting a plurality of teeth in the material-covered gear workpiece, each of the plurality of teeth having first and second flanks and a root, wherein the material does not reside on any one of the first flanks, the second flanks and the roots; heat treating the gear workpiece to harden the teeth; and finishing the heat-treated gear workpiece in a finishing process to form a finished ring gear, the finishing process comprising at least one of a turning operation and a lapping operation; wherein the material is disposed over the weld interface on the finished ring gear. A welded assembly is also provided.

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.

A weldment includes a first component, a second component, and a weld joint coupling the first and second components together. The weld joint forms a heat affected zone in the first component and creates residual tensile stress in the first component. The first and second components cooperate to define a pocket configured to position a highest magnitude of the residual tensile stress in the first component in a location that is outside of the heat affected zone of the first component.

Methods for the fabrication of metal strain wave gear flexsplines using a specialized metal additive manufacturing technique are provided. The method allows the entire flexspline to be metal printed, including all the components: the output surface with mating features, the thin wall of the cup, and the teeth integral to the flexspline. The flexspline may be used directly upon removal from the building tray.