A method of producing a 3D article by additive manufacture is provided. The method includes the steps of: forming a meltpool in an already-existing part of the article, and moving the meltpool relative thereto; feeding a directed feedstock into the moving meltpool to deposit and fuse a layer of material on the already-existing part; and repeating the forming and moving and feeding steps to build up successive layers of material. In performance of the forming and moving step: a first energy source impinges at a first region of the already-existing part which moves with and leads the meltpool, whereby the first energy source initiates the formation of the meltpool; and a second energy source impinges at a second region on the already-existing part which moves with and follows the first region, whereby the second energy source grows the lateral width of the meltpool before the feedstock is fed therein.

Embodiments of systems and methods for supporting predictive and preventative maintenance are disclosed. One embodiment includes manufacturing cells within a manufacturing environment, where each manufacturing cell includes a cell controller and welding equipment, cutting equipment, and/or additive manufacturing equipment. A communication network supports data communications between a central controller and the cell controller of each of the manufacturing cells. The central controller collects cell data from the cell controller of each of the manufacturing cells, via the communication network. The cell data is related to the operation, performance, and/or servicing of a same component type of each of the manufacturing cells to form a set of aggregated cell data for the component type. The central controller also analyzes the set of aggregated cell data to generate a predictive model related to future maintenance of the component type.

A poppet valve, in particular a hollow poppet valve, includes: a valve stem; a valve body having along a longitudinal axis, a first end with a neck portion to which the valve stem is coaxially arranged and having along a longitudinal axis a second end with a first conical contact face portion, the valve body including a cavity with a first opening towards the first end and a second opening towards the second end; and a valve cap coaxially arranged to the valve body on the second end for closing the second opening, the valve cap having a second conical contact face portion to form together with the first conical contact face portion a valve head contact face.

An iron-based alloy composition including: boron (B): 1. 6-2.4 wt. %; carbon (C): 2.2-3.0 wt. %; chromium (Cr): 3.5-5.0 wt. %; manganese (Mn): below 0.8 wt. %; molybdenum (Mo): 16.0-19.5 wt. %; nickel (Ni): 1.0-2.0 wt. %; silicon (Si): 0.2-2.0 wt. %; vanadium (V): 10.8-13.2 wt. %; and balanced with iron (Fe). Further, an item including a substrate portion and a hardfacing coating bonded to the substrate portion, wherein the hardfacing coating is made by an overlay welding process using the iron-based alloy composition.

A method for producing a built-up object by melting and solidifying a filler metal to form weld beads on a base surface along a track for a torch and form the built-up object formed by the weld beads is provided. The built-up object includes a bead formation portion where a gravitational influence is maximum. The method includes: forming a supporting bead having a higher viscosity during weld-bead formation than other weld beads in the bead formation portion; and forming the other weld beads overlying the supporting bead.

A system may include an energy delivery device and a computing device. The computing device may be configured to: control the energy delivery device to deliver energy to an abrasive coating, wherein the abrasive coating comprises a metal matrix and abrasive particles at least partially encapsulated by the metal matrix; and control the energy delivery device to scan the energy across a surface of the abrasive coating and form a series of softened or melted portions of the metal matrix.

Provided are systems and methods for regulation of mass flow and monitoring of volumetric flow, for regulation of volumetric flow and monitoring of mass flow, and for regulation of both mass and volumetric flow of gas to a plasma torch for wire-plasma arc additive manufacturing processes, and methods for manufacturing metal objects by additive manufacturing using one or more of the systems.

Disclosed are a reverse polarity plasma arc robot additive manufacturing system and an implementation method therefor, the system comprising an industrial robot, an additive manufacturing power source, a wire feeding machine, a machine visual system, an industrial computer, a plasma welding gun, a refrigerating device, a gas device and an auxiliary tool fixture. The industrial robot, the additive manufacturing power source, the wire feeding machine, the refrigerating device, the gas device and the auxiliary tool fixture are all connected to the industrial computer via a CAN bus; the machine visual system is connected to the industrial computer by means of a TCP/IP protocol; the plasma welding gun is connected to the refrigerating device, the additive manufacturing power source, the wire feeding machine, the gas device and the auxiliary tool fixture; and the refrigerating device is further connected to the additive manufacturing power source. The additive manufacturing power source comprises a main-arc power source and a pilot-arc power source, and the main-arc power source and the pilot-arc power source are both connected to the plasma welding gun; and the main-arc power source comprises a main-arc power source main circuit and a main-arc power source control circuit, and the pilot-arc power source comprises a pilot-arc power source main circuit, a pilot-arc power source control circuit and a high-frequency and high-voltage arc ignition circuit. The additive manufacturing power source not only realizes the inverse change of the high-frequency and high-efficiency, but also realizes the integration and digital integration of the pilot-arc power source and the main-arc power source. The main-arc power source and the pilot-arc power source are digitally coordinated by means of a CAN network, and the volume of same is compact, the compatibility is better, the field environment is more adaptable, and the expansion capability is stronger.

Provided are a curved clamping mold and systems and methods using the curved clamping mold for manufacturing objects, especially titanium and titanium alloy objects, by directed energy deposition. The methods include thermally pre-bending the substrate onto which the object is to be manufactured to form a pre-bent substrate, attaching the pre-bent substrate to a jig using the curved clamping mold as an underlying support, pre-heating the substrate, and forming the object on the pre-heated, pre-bent substrate using a directed energy deposition technique.

A method for repairing a pocket of a case for a variable stator assembly may comprise: receiving, via a processor, a plurality of wear depths, each wear depth in the plurality of wear depths corresponding to a wear portion in a stator pocket in a plurality of stator pockets; determining, via the processor, a plurality of thicknesses of a coating to be deposited based on the plurality of wear depths, each thickness of the coating in the plurality of thicknesses corresponding to the wear portion for each stator pocket in the plurality of stator pockets; and commanding, via the processor, a coating spray torch to deposit the coating in the wear portion of each stator pocket in the plurality of stator pockets.