According to one embodiment, a nozzle includes a magnetic field generating section and a body. The magnetic field generating section is configured to generate a magnetic field. The body is configured so that the magnetic field is generated on an inner side by the magnetic field generating section, and includes an opening configured so that a powder swirling around in the magnetic field is ejected therefrom.

An NC device that is a numerical control device controls an additive manufacturing apparatus. The additive manufacturing apparatus performs modeling by application of a melted material. The NC device includes a monitoring unit that monitors occurrence of a drop caused by a material after being melted remaining on the material before being melted, and a command generating unit that generates commands for causing the additive manufacturing apparatus to remove the drop that has occurred.

An additive manufacturing system includes a build surface, one or more laser energy sources, and an optics assembly. Exposure of a layer of material on the build surface to laser energy from the optics assembly melts at least a portion of the layer of material. A gas flow head is coupled to the optics assembly and defines a partially enclosed volume between the optics assembly and the build surface. The gas flow head includes a gas inflow through which a supply gas flows into the gas flow head, a gas outflow through which a return gas flows out of the gas flow head, and an aperture arranged to permit transmission of the laser energy through the gas flow head to the build surface. The supply gas and return gas define a gas flow profile within the gas flow head.

A laser welding method is constituted of: emitting shield gas in advance through a laser nozzle provided on a laser processing head at a time of moving the laser processing head from a reference position to a starting position for welding the workpiece; and radiating laser light onto the workpiece through the laser nozzle at the starting position for welding when a feeding rate of the shield gas gets stabilized, whereby performing laser welding on the workpiece.

A laser processing head (100) comprises a first-level nozzle (110) and a second-level nozzle (120) that communicate with each other, wherein the second-level nozzle (120) is arranged downstream of the first-level nozzle (110); an inner diameter of the second-level nozzle (120) gradually decreases in a laser transmission direction, and minimum inner diameter of the first-level nozzle (110) is larger than the inner diameter of a tail end of the second-level nozzle (120). The laser processing head (100) solves the contradiction between high energy density laser and the system reliability through gradual coupling. Also provided are an application of the laser processing head, a laser processing system and a laser processing method.

A system used to additively manufacture an object layer-by-layer using direct energy deposition (DED) includes a base where the object is formed, a depositor configured to deposit material layer-by-layer on the base or a previously deposited layer of the object, an energy source configured to selectively direct an energized beam at the material to fuse a new layer of the material to a previously formed layer, and a heating element in contact with at least a portion of the base and configured to supply heat to the base.

An optimum scattering angle calculator calculates an optimum scattering angle at which molten metal is most desirably scattered at a time of piercing processing of opening a pierced hole in a sheet metal to fabricate a first product, the molten metal being not adhered to an approach path and not adhered to a processing path for a second product positioned within a search region centered on a center of the pierced hole at the optimum scattering angle. A program creator creates a processing program by adding an auxiliary code to a code for fabricating the first product, the auxiliary code indicating that, at a time of the piercing processing on the first product, a position of a laser beam in an opening of a nozzle is displaced in an angle direction of the optimum scattering angle from a center of the opening, the laser beam being emitted from the opening.

This laser processing device is provided with a laser radiating unit which forms a processed groove extending in a scanning direction on a workpiece, by subjecting the workpiece to laser processing while scanning the surface of the workpiece, and a nozzle portion which has a plurality of ejection holes arranged side by side in the scanning direction, and which ejects a gas toward the processed groove from each of the ejection holes. With this laser processing device, since a plume is eliminated by ejecting gas into the processed groove by means of the nozzle portion, the formation of a heat affected layer by the plume can be suppressed to an even greater extent.

A laser etching apparatus includes a chamber, a laser port, a laser emitter, a particle grabber, and a revolving window module. The chamber is configured to receive a substrate. The laser port is disposed below the chamber in a downward direction. The laser emitter is configured to emit a laser to the substrate disposed within the chamber through the laser port. The particle grabber is disposed within the chamber and includes a body disposed over the laser port. An opening is formed through the body. The opening is configured to pass the laser therethrough. The revolving window module includes a revolving window and a driving part configured to drive the revolving window. The revolving window is disposed between the particle grabber and the laser port.

A material deposition unit includes a radiation unit configured to emit electromagnetic radiation in a directed manner onto a workpiece along a beam axis extending in a beam direction and, and a powder discharge device having multiple powder discharge units configured to discharge powder in a directed form onto the workpiece. The powder discharge device includes at least a first powder discharge unit and a second powder discharge unit. The first powder discharge unit has a plurality of first powder-outlet openings with a first material focal zone. The second powder discharge unit has a plurality of second powder-outlet openings with a second material focal zone. The first material focal zone and the second material focal zone being spaced apart from one another in the beam direction.