METHOD AND DEVICE FOR THE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURE OF AT LEAST ONE COMPONENT REGION OF A COMPONENT

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for the additive manufacture of at least one region (16) of a component. Here, at least the following steps are carried out: a) layer-wise application of at least one powder-form component material onto a component platform in the region of a build-up and joining zone (14); b) layer-wise and local solidifying of the component material by selective exposure of the component material by at least one high-energy beam (12) in the region of the build-up and joining zone (14), with the formation of a component layer (15); c) layer-wise lowering of the component platform by a pre-defined layer thickness; and d) repeating steps a) to c) until the component region (16) or the component has been completely fabricated.

Claims

1. A method for the additive manufacture of at least one region (16) of a component, comprising the following steps: a) layer-wise application of at least one powder-form component material onto a component platform in the region of a build-up and joining zone (14); b) layer-wise and local solidifying of the component material by selective exposure of the component material by at least one high-energy beam (12) in the region of the build-up and joining zone (14), with the formation of a component layer (15); c) layer-wise lowering of the component platform by a pre-defined layer thickness; and d) repeating steps a) to c) until the component region (16) or the component has been completely fabricated; wherein during at least one step b), at least one exposure parameter of the high-energy beam from the group: power (P), velocity (v), and focal position (F), is adjusted as a function of at least one construction parameter from the group: component thickness (b.sub.teil), hatch distance (h) to an adjacent exposure trace, angle of incidence (c) of the high-energy beam (12) relative to the surface of the component layer (15), angle of deflection (β) of the high-energy beam (12) with respect to a vertical axis (z) of the component layer (15), overhang angle (γ) of the component layer (15), layer thickness (n) of the component layer (15), and distance (w) from a complete volume element of the component layer (15).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a laser sintering method and/or a laser melting method is used as the additive manufacturing method, and/or a laser beam is used as the high-energy beam (12).

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least the exposure parameter, power (P), of the high-energy beam (12) is reduced, when compared to the power in an inskin region (22), if the construction parameter, overhang angle (γ), of the component layer (15) in the exposed region corresponds to a downskin region (20), and/or in that at least the exposure parameter, power (P), of the high-energy beam (12) is increased, when compared to the power in an inskin region (22), if the construction parameter, overhang angle (γ), of the component layer (15) in the exposed region corresponds to an upskin region (18).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the at least one exposure parameter of the high-energy beam (12) from the group: power (P), velocity (v), and focal position (F), is determined in advance, prior to the manufacture of the component layer (15) in step b) as a function of at least one construction parameter from the group: component thickness (b.sub.teil), hatch distance (h) to an adjacent exposure trace, angle of incidence (α) of the high-energy beam relative to the surface of the component layer, angle of deflection (β) of the high-energy beam with respect to a vertical axis of the component layer, overhang angle (γ) of the component layer, layer thickness (n) of the component layer, and distance (w) from a complete volume element of the component layer, and is provided as a data set for control and/or regulation of the high-energy beam (12).

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the at least one exposure parameter (P, v, F) of the high-energy beam (12) is pre-determined in the scope of a determination of a hatch geometry of the component layer (15).

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein during at least one step b) and/or after at least one step b), at least one measurement parameter characterizing a quality of the manufactured component layer (15) is determined, and the at least one exposure parameter of the high-energy beam (12) from the group: power (P), velocity (v) and focal position (F), is determined and/or modified as a function of the measurement parameter and of the at least one construction parameter (b.sub.teil, n, w, α, β, φ, h).

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein a radiation source (10), which generates the high-energy beam (12), is not moved, at least during one step b).

8. A device for the additive manufacture of at least one region (15) of a component of a turbine or of a compressor, comprising: at least one powder supply for applying at least one powder layer from a component material onto a build-up and joining zone (14) of a component platform that can be lowered; and at least one radiation source (10) for generating at least one high-energy beam (12), by which the powder layer can be solidified locally into a component layer (15) in the region of the build-up and joining zone, wherein this device comprises a memory unit with a data set provided in a memory, whereby the data set comprises at least one construction parameter from the group: component thickness (b.sub.teil), hatch distance (h) to an adjacent exposure trace, angle of incidence (α) of the high-energy beam (12) relative to the surface of the component layer (15), angle of deflection (β) of the high-energy beam (12) with respect to a vertical axis (z) of the component layer (15), overhang angle (γ) of the component layer (15), layer thickness (n) of the component layer (15), and distance (w) from a complete volume element of the component layer (15); and a control device for controlling and/or regulating the radiation source (10), wherein the control device is designed for the purpose of pre-determining at least one exposure parameter of the high-energy beam (12) from the group: power (P), velocity (v), and focal position (F), as a function of the data set.

9. (canceled)

10. The device according to claim 8 wherein further comprising a measuring instrument, by which at least one measurement parameter characterizing a quality of the manufactured component layer (15) can be determined.

11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the control device is coupled to the measuring instrument for exchanging data, and is designed to determine in advance the at least one exposure parameter of the high-energy beam (12) from the group: power (P), velocity (v), and focal position (F), as a function of the data set and of the measurement parameter, and/or to modify at least one already pre-determined exposure parameter (P, v, F).

Description

[0017] Additional features of the invention result from the claims, the figures, and the description of the figures. The features and combinations of features named in the preceding description, as well as the features and combinations of features named below in the description of the figures and/or in the figures alone can be used not only in the combination indicated in each case, but also in other combinations, without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, embodiments of the invention that are not explicitly shown and explained in the figures, but proceed from the explained embodiments and can be produced by separate combination of features, are also to be viewed as comprised and disclosed. Embodiments and combination of features that thus do not have all features of an originally formulated independent claim are also to be viewed as disclosed. Herein:

[0018] FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of a radiation source, by means of which a high-energy beam is generated for the local solidification of a component layer;

[0019] FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of the detail I shown in FIG. 1;

[0020] FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of the detail II shown in FIG. 1; and

[0021] FIG. 4 shows a schematic lateral sectional view of the detail II shown in FIG. 1.

[0022] FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of a radiation source 10 of a device for the additive manufacture of at least one region of a component, for example, a component of a turbomachine. The radiation source 10 is presently designed as a laser and generates a laser beam 12 for the layer-wise local solidifying of a powder-form component material that is applied in a build-up and joining zone 14 on a component platform (not shown) that can be lowered. The radiation source 10 here in the present embodiment example is mounted fixed in place relative to the build-up and joining zone 14 in the device, so that the laser beam 12 is deflected by an appropriate optics unit in a way known in and of itself onto the desired regions of the build-up and joining zone 14. In this case, the exposure parameters: power P, velocity v, and focal position F, of the laser beam 12 are adjusted as a function of several construction parameters from the group: component thickness b.sub.teil, hatch distance h to an adjacent exposure or scan trace 24 (FIG. 3), angle of incidence a of the high-energy beam or laser beam 12 relative to the surface of a respective component layer 15, angle of deflection β of the high-energy beam or laser beam 12 with respect to a vertical axis z of the component layer, overhang angle γ of the component layer, layer thickness n of the component layer, and distance w from a complete volume element of the component layer, in order to assure a high material quality that is as homogeneous as possible.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows, for this purpose, a schematic top view of the component region 16 according to the detail I shown in FIG. 1 and will be explained below along with FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, wherein FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of the detail II shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 shows a schematic lateral sectional view of the detail II shown in FIG. 1. It is recognized that the additively manufactured component region 16, of which, in the present example, only two component layers 15 with the respective layer thicknesses n.sub.1 and n.sub.2 are shown, has an upskin region 18, a downskin region 20, and an inskin region 22. As can be recognized in particular in FIG. 4, the exposure parameters: power P, velocity v, and focal position F, of the high-energy beam are determined in each case as a function of the construction parameters b.sub.teil, n, w, α, β, φ and h along the scanning vectors 24 indicated by arrows in FIG. 3: [0024] P(b.sub.teil, n, w, α, β, φ, h) [0025] v(b.sub.teil, n, w, α, β, φ, h) [0026] F(b.sub.teil, n, w, α, β, φ, h)

[0027] As can be recognized in FIG. 4, the power P is reduced in the downskin region 20 down to approximately 50% of the power P used in the inskin or intermediate region 22, so that the power P of the high-energy beam 12 has the smallest value at the thinnest site of the downskin region 20 or for the smallest angle of incidence a. In this case, the function of reducing is basically not limited to the nonlinear course shown, but can also run linearly or assume other functional courses. In the inskin region 22, the power P is kept uniformly at a relative 100%. In the upskin region 18, the power P is increased non-linearly up to 150% with respect to the power P in the inskin region 22, so that the power P of the high-energy beam 12 is highest at the thickest site of the downskin region 20 in consideration of the component layer 15 lying thereunder. Other functional courses are also basically conceivable even here.

[0028] By way of this targeted parametrization as a function of overhang angle γ, construction parameters specific to the component geometry: b.sub.teil, n, w, φ and h, and laser beam angles α, β, the quality of the component region 16 in general and the surface quality thereof in particular can be essentially improved and made uniform. For this purpose, for example, in the data processing, another parameter is delivered to a control device, which represents the component geometry (overhang angle (γ), layer thickness (n) etc.), as well as the laser beam angle (α). With the help of these values, during the build-up, the power P, the velocity v, and the focus F, of the high-energy beam 12 are determined along the scan vectors 24 via the above-mentioned functions.

[0029] The adjustment of the power P, among other things, is thus dependent on the geometry or the overhang of the component region 16 and can be produced in advance in the calculation of the hatch geometry. For example, the calculation can be oriented to values from experience (testing, simulation, statistics, etc.). It is likewise possible that an online regulation, thus a determination or modification, takes place during the manufacturing step of the component region 16 in question. For this, at least one measurement value characterizing the component quality is determined by a measuring instrument (optical tomography, melt bath analysis, etc.) and can then be used subsequently for determining or modifying the exposure parameters. This permits an equalizing of fluctuations in the manufacturing process in the sense of an online regulation.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

[0030] 10 Radiation source [0031] 12 High-energy beam [0032] 14 Build-up and joining zone [0033] 15 Component layer [0034] 16 Component region [0035] 18 Upskin region [0036] 20 Downskin region [0037] 22 Inskin region [0038] 24 Scan vectors [0039] P Power [0040] v Velocity [0041] F Focal position of the high-energy beam 12 [0042] b.sub.teil Component thickness [0043] h Hatch distance to an adjacent exposure trace [0044] α Angle of incidence of the high-energy beam 12 relative to the surface of the component layer 15 [0045] β Angle of deflection of the high-energy beam 12 with respect to a vertical axis z of the component layer 15 [0046] γ Overhang angle of the component layer 15 [0047] n Layer thickness n of the component layer 15 [0048] w Distance from a complete volume element of the component layer 15