Disclosed is a hybrid additive manufacturing system that includes a laser system and an additive manufacturing tool, such as an arc welding type torch. The tool is configured to receive a metallic electrode wire, which is heated by a power supply to create droplets for deposition to create the part by building up successive layers of metal. The additive manufacturing system operates through coordination of the laser system to generate a laser beam, which is applied to a weld bead, and an arc welding process, which provides material for the part. A threshold value of laser intensity and/or power can be applied to the weld puddle to stabilize the arc. Through the laser beam, an arc cone position can be manipulated such that the energy into the molten pool can be redistributed.

In various embodiments, wire composed at least partially of arc-melted refractory metal material is utilized to fabricate three-dimensional parts by additive manufacturing.

The present invention discloses a multifunction integrated manufacturing system based on electrical machining, including a robot, a motion control unit, a multifunction composite electrical power supply, a working medium supply and recycle unit, a wire feeding device, a tool holder quick-change clamping unit, an electrical machining tool holder, a welding tool holder, a detection tool holder, and a workbench. By using the robot as an actuator, the system can implement discharge additive manufacturing including arc additive forming and micro electrical discharge deposition forming, discharge subtractive machining including efficient arc machining and precise electrical discharge machining, part joining based on arc surfacing, and online detection based on optical scanning and ultrasonic flaw detection. The present invention has a high integration level, covers machining and manufacturing of difficult-to-machine materials and micro parts, and can implement efficient and precise machining. The present invention can be implemented in a variety of media without environmental restrictions thus having a broad application range and having a strong application prospect in extreme environments such as space and deep sea.

A welding program is created for performing spot welding by a program creation device. The program creation device includes a display unit configured to display an image, and an image generation unit configured to generate image data of a product model before being subjected to spot welding in accordance with shape data on a product and display the product model on the display unit, a display control unit configured to make a workpiece having a selected surface in the product model to be semitransparent, a welding portion setting unit configured to set welding portions to be allotted for the selected surface in the product model, and a program creation unit configured to create the welding program including related data for a welding robot with regard to the set welding portions.

Provided is a fluid-cooled contact tip assembly that can be used in methods and systems for manufacturing objects by solid freeform fabrication, especially titanium and titanium alloy objects, where the deposition rate is increased by increasing the flow rate of electric charge through the metal wire.

A 3D metal printing machine or apparatus includes a welder that deposits one or more layers of metal, and a powered cutting tool that may be utilized to remove a portion of the metal deposited by the welder after the metal has solidified. Numerous layers of metal can be deposited and machined to form complex 3D metal parts. During fabrication, a part may be formed on a support whereby the part can be fabricated by welding and machining operations without removing the part from the support. A 3D CAD model of a part may be utilized to generate code that controls the 3D metal printing apparatus. A measuring device such as a probe or laser scanner may be utilized to measure the shape/size of parts in the 3D metal printing machine.

A system and method to correct for height error during a robotic welding additive manufacturing process. One or both of a welding output current and a wire feed speed are sampled during a robotic welding additive manufacturing process when creating a current weld layer. A plurality of instantaneous contact tip-to-work distances (CTWD's) are determined based on at least one or both of the welding output current and the wire feed speed. An average CTWD is determined based on the plurality of instantaneous CTWD's. A correction factor is generated, based on at least the average CTWD, which is used to compensate for any error in height of the current weld layer.

A method of welding using a weld filler additive and a weld filler additive are provided. The method includes the step of welding the component with a filler additive comprising a sufficient amount of each of Co, Cr, Al, Ti, Mo, Fe, B, C, Nb, and Ni, the component including a hard-to-weld base alloy. The method further includes the step of forming an easy-to-weld target alloy on a surface of the component from the welding.

Provided is a part and to the filling, layer by layer, of a defective spot by means of solder and parent metal. Because a defective spot is filled layer by layer, good mechanical properties are obtained for the defective spot and the entire part.

Provided are a systems and methods for continuously providing a metal wire to a welding torch for manufacturing objects by solid freeform fabrication to provide continuous deposition of metal to the freeform object, especially objects made with titanium or titanium alloy wire.