An additive manufacturing system includes an energy source and a material delivery device. The energy source is configured to direct an energy beam toward a component to form a melt pool. The material delivery device is configured to feed a wire toward the melt pool to deposit material on the component. In some examples, the material delivery device is configured to discharge a current to the wire to disengage the wire from the melt pool. In some examples, the material delivery device is configured to measure an arc voltage between the wire and the component.

Some variations provide an aluminum alloy feedstock for additive manufacturing, the aluminum alloy feedstock comprising from 79.8 wt % to 88.3 wt % aluminum; from 1.1 wt % to 2.1 wt % copper; from 3.0 wt % to 4.6 wt % magnesium; from 7.1 wt % to 9.0 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium as a grain-refiner element. The aluminum alloy feedstock may be in the form of an ingot powder. In some variations, the aluminum alloy feedstock comprises from 81.3 wt % to about 87.8 wt % aluminum; from 1.2 wt % to 2.0 wt % copper; from 3.2 wt % to 4.4 wt % magnesium; from 7.3 wt % to 8.7 wt % zinc; and from 0.5 wt % to 2.8 wt % zirconium.

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.

In a method for welding using a wire-shaped filler and at least one laser beam, the wire-shaped filler is advanced in the direction of the surface of the workpiece by a wire feed mechanism. The wire-shaped filler is successively fused during the feed movement thereof. The wire-shaped filler and the material are connected to an electrical voltage source and form an electrical circuit. The electrical voltage, the electrical current and/or the electrical resistance are measured and used as control variables for the wire feed movement and/or the power of the at least one laser beam. Use of the laser beam is modified when a predefined threshold value of the electrical voltage and/or of the electrical current are fallen short of or a predefined threshold value of the electrical resistance is exceeded.

A control system for regulating an additive manufacturing process of an additive manufacturing apparatus, the apparatus configured to add metal to a substrate by means of metal deposition. The apparatus comprises: a nozzle for output of a metal strip, the nozzle configured to be arranged at a distance from the substrate, and configured to move relative the substrate in XYZ-axes via a position actuator. The apparatus further comprises a heat source configured to melt the metal strip into a weld pool on the substrate, and an electrical power source configured to supply current via the metal strip 20 to the substrate. The control system is configured maintain process stability, during the deposition of a layer of metal, via: determining electrical conductance between the metal strip and the substrate by measuring at least one electrical property of the supplied current; determining the difference between the determined electrical conductance, and a desired electrical conductance; and, adjusting at least one of: the substrate to nozzle distance, the speed of the nozzle movement relative the substrate, the amount of supplied current, the heat provided by the heat source, and/or the rate of output of the metal strip, based on the difference between the determined conductance and the desired conductance.

A high strength and corrosion resistant ferrochrome alloy bulk is disclosed, which comprises, in weight percent: 30-68% Cr, 1.5-8% Ni, 1.6-6% C, and the balance Fe and incidental impurities, of which a Fe/Ni ratio is in a range from 5 to 10 and a Cr/C ratio is in a range between 10 and 33. Experimental data reveal that, samples of the high strength and corrosion resistant ferrochrome alloy bulk all possess hardness above HV400 and excellent corrosion resistance due to the high content of Cr. As a result, experimental data have proved that the high-strength and corrosion-resistant ferrochrome alloy bulk of the present invention has a significant potential to replace conventional high-strength stainless steels, so as to be widely applied in various industrial fields, e.g., aviation, transportation, marine facility components, chemical equipment and pipe fittings, engine parts, turbine blades, valves, bearings, building materials, and so on.

The invention relates to a method for repairing a damaged blade tip of a turbine blade which is armor-plated and provided with a blade coating, of a thermal gas turbine. The method according to the invention comprises the steps of removing a blade tip armor plating of the turbine blade at least in the region of the damaged blade tip and producing a repair surface (12), removing only a part of the blade coating of the turbine blade in the region of the repair surface while preserving a part of the blade coating separated from the repair surface (14), restoring the blade tip reinforcement (20), and restoring the blade coating in the region of the repaired blade tip (22). The invention furthermore relates to a device for carrying out such a method.

A robotic electric arc welding system includes a welding torch, a welding robot configured to manipulate the welding torch during a welding operation, a robot controller operatively connected to the welding robot to control weaving movements of the welding torch along a weld seam and at a weave frequency and weave period, and a welding power supply operatively connected to the welding torch to control a welding waveform, and operatively connected to the robot controller for communication therewith. The welding power supply is configured to sample a plurality of weld parameters during a sampling period of the welding operation and form an analysis packet, and process the analysis packet to generate a weld quality score, wherein the welding power supply obtains the weave frequency or the weave period and automatically adjusts the sampling period for forming the analysis packet based on the weave frequency or the weave period.

An optical manufacturing process sensing and status indication system is taught that is able to utilize optical emissions from a manufacturing process to infer the state of the process. In one case, it is able to use these optical emissions to distinguish thermal phenomena on two timescales and to perform feature extraction and classification so that nominal process conditions may be uniquely distinguished from off-nominal process conditions at a given instant in time or over a sequential series of instants in time occurring over the duration of the manufacturing process. In other case, it is able to utilize these optical emissions to derive corresponding spectra and identify features within those spectra so that nominal process conditions may be uniquely distinguished from off-nominal process conditions at a given instant in time or over a sequential series of instants in time occurring over the duration of the manufacturing process.

The disclosed technology generally relates to consumable electrode wires and more particularly to consumable electrode wires having a core-shell structure, where the core comprises aluminum. In one aspect, a welding wire comprises a sheath having a steel composition and a core surrounded by the sheath. The core comprises aluminum (Al) at a concentration between about 3 weight % and about 20 weight % on the basis of the total weight of the welding wire, where Al is in an elemental form or is alloyed with a different metal element. The disclosed technology also relates to welding methods and systems adapted for using the aluminum-comprising electrode wires.