Adaptive shape control of laser-deposited metal structures by adjusting weld pool size

LMD (Laser Metal Deposition) is a technique used to repair damaged components and directly form three dimensional structures. From the aspect of productivity, improvement of the shape accuracy of the deposit is required to reduce machining process after LMD. Objective of this work is to control the build-up shape by adjusting the weld pool size. Configurations of deposits made with various LMD process conditions were measured in cross section. In addition, the signal intensity of heat radiation, plume emissions and laser reflections from the weld pool was monitored by photodiodes intergrated in laser processing head during LMD process. The results showed a strong correlation between weld pool size and signal intensity of heat radiation. Adaptive shape control system, which consists of in process monitoring system and PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) controller using that correlation, was developed to control build-up shape. Due to the liner relationship with weld pool size, laser power was selected as the PID output parameter adjusted by the heat radiation signal. Since the target value of the heat radiation signal can be changed flexibly during the LMD process in our PID control system, deposit shape is successfully controlled as required with sufficient profile accuracy of the build-up layers.