An additive manufacturing system is disclosed that comprises two or more lasers for precisely heating a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic feedstock and a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic workpiece in preparation for depositing and tamping the feedstock onto the workpiece. The system employs feedforward, a variety of sensors, and feedback to ensure that the feedstock and workpiece are properly heated.

A welding method for subjecting a surface to be built-up of an elongated workpiece to a build-up welding process along a longitudinal direction of the workpiece, the welding method includes a step of forming a build-up layer on the surface to be built-up by supplying a filler metal to the surface to be built-up along the longitudinal direction and by applying a laser beam thereto to melt the filler metal. In the step of forming the build-up layer, information on a dimension of a molten pool formed by the filler metal and the workpiece molten by the laser beam is obtained, and an output of the laser beam is controlled based on the information.

An additive manufacturing machine that includes a wire supply including a wire drive configured to advance a wire at a wire feed rate and a wire heater configured to apply resistive heating to heat the wire. The additive manufacturing machine includes an additive head for emitting a laser beam to weld the wire to a substrate, a sensor configured to detect a weld parameter, and a controller operatively connected to the wire supply, additive head, and sensor. The controller is configured to determine a failure mode of the weld as the laser beam welds the wire to the substrate based at least in part upon the weld parameter. In response to determining the failure mode, the controller is configured to adjust at least one of the wire feed rate, the resistive heating, and a power of the laser beam as the laser beam welds the wire to stabilize the weld.

A method for laser keyhole welding a stack of metal foils to a metal tab is disclosed. The method independently adjusts power in a focused center beam and power in a focused annular beam to form a weld through all the foils and the tab. The annular beam provides sufficient power to heat the metal to about melting temperature, widen a mouth of a keyhole, and stabilize a melt pool. The center beam provides sufficient additional power to form the keyhole. The power of the annular beam is sustained for a longer time than the power of the center beam. A plurality of such welds is formed to provide mechanical strength and electrical conductivity.

A method of monitoring a heating operation on a component by a flame torch, including the steps of producing a flame with the flame torch, rotating the component with respect to the flame so that a circular weld is created on the component, and providing a first sensor that is operatively engaged with the component so that the first sensor monitors rotation or non-rotation of the components.

Systems and methods of adapting the geometrical shape of a laser beam in laser-based powder-bed fusion (PBF) are provided. An apparatus for laser-based powder-bed fusion includes a depositor that deposits a plurality of layers of a powder material. The apparatus further includes a laser beam source that generates a laser beam having a variable beam geometry. A laser application component applies the laser beam in one of a plurality of beam geometries to fuse the powder material to construct a build piece.

The present invention relates to a process for irradiating a processed surface (5) of a processed substrate (1) so as to obtain a predefined temperature profile, the processed surface (5) comprising a first area (11) and a second area (13), said first area (11) having a first combination of optical properties and thermal properties, and said second area (13) having a second combination of optical properties and thermal properties, said first combination and second combination being different. A further object of the invention is a system (21) for irradiating a processed surface (5) of a processed substrate (1) so as to obtain a predefined temperature profile, the processed surface (5) comprising a first area (11) and a second area (13), said first area (11) having a first combination of optical properties and thermal properties, and said second area (13) having a second combination of optical properties and thermal properties, said first combination and second combination being different.

According to one embodiment, an optical machining apparatus includes a first light source, and a second light source. The first light source is configured to radiate a first beam onto a first position of a surface of a work in such a manner as to transfer heat at a temperature lower than a melting temperature of the work from the first position of the work to a second position of a surface of the work on an opposite side to the first position. The second light source is configured to radiate a second beam onto the second position such that a temperature of the work exceeds the melting temperature of the work, in a state in which a temperature of the second position is raised by the transfer of the heat.

Closed-loop melt pool size control for additive manufacturing is integrated with site-specific changes to a controller set-point. Site-specific control enables localized control of bead geometry and material properties in an additive manufacturing system, thus offering enhanced defect mitigation capabilities when compared with constant setpoint technologies. Trigger points, generated by the projection of a secondary geometry onto a primary geometry, mark locations of the volume of a part under manufacture where site-specific changes in setpoint occur. Through this technique, it is possible to manufacture a specific geometry that occurs beyond a predefined toolpath of a print head. Implications of this capability extend beyond localized control of bead geometry to potential mitigations of defects and functional grading of component properties.

An apparatus (1) for additive manufacturing of three-dimensional objects (2) by successive, selective layer-by-layer exposure and thus solidification of construction material layers of a construction material (3) that can be solidified by means of an energy beam, comprising at least one temperature control device (11), which is provided for at least partial temperature control of a construction material layer formed in a construction plane, wherein the temperature control device (11) comprises at least one temperature control element (12), which is provided for generating an, especially electromagnetic, temperature control beam, wherein the at least one temperature control element (12) is formed as or comprises a temperature control diode.