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technical paper
Grain Size Manipulation by Wire Laser Direct Energy Deposition of 316L with Ultrasonic Assistance
keywords:
microstructure tailoring
grain refinement
ultrasonic engineering
laser wire direct energy deposition
Additive manufacturing processes have undergone significant development in regard to process management and reproducibility. Porosity, crack formation and similar defects can be reliably avoided through process control for a multitude of materials. This also applies to wire laser direct energy deposition (wire L-DED), which offers standardized feedstock material and direct controllable flow of mass. However, the process inherent microstructure remains fundamentally unaffected by parameter variations within typical process configurations. This microstructure is characterized by coarse columnar grains with a distinct fiber texture along the build direction. The underlying cause is the presence of a strong directional heat flux from the melt pool through the deposited material to the substrate. Consequently, as-built components demonstrate anisotropic mechanical properties with significantly lower tensile strength in build direction. One possible approach to inducing grain refinement and promoting the formation of an isotropic microstructure is the application of ultrasonic waves to the melt pool during solidification This lecture presents an approach to introducing ultrasonic waves to the wire L-DED process. An ultrasound system was developed, integrated in a laser wire deposition machine and a suitable process window has been established. A disruption of the highly directional solidification, resulting in a randomized texture as well as finer grains, has been confirmed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) (dm = 284,5 μm without ultrasound, dm = 130,4 μm with ultrasound).