Real-time process control of powder bed fusion by monitoring dynamic temperature field

Abstract

This study aims to optimize the uniformity of the temperature field during sintering to improve part performance. A temperature-field monitoring system is established based on an infrared thermal imager and the temperature field data obtained during the sintering of a part can be measured in real time. The relationship among the sintering temperature field, sintering process parameters, and part performance is established experimentally. Subsequently, a temperature field monitoring and analysis system is constructed, and various sintering temperature-field control strategies are established for various part sizes. Finally, a dynamic control strategy for controlling the temperature field during sintering is proposed, experimentally validated, and fully integrated into a developed powder bed fusion (PBF) equipment. For eight-shaped standard parts, the range of sintering temperature field is optimized from 44.1 °C to 19.7 °C, whereas the tensile strength of the parts increased by 15.4%. For large-size H parts, localized over burning is eliminated and the final quality of the part is optimized. This strategy is critical for the optimization of the PBF process for large-sized parts, in particular in the large-sized die manufacturing industry, which offers promise in the optimization of part performance.

Keywords

Powder bed fusion (PBF) / Sintering temperature field / Monitoring system / Infrared thermal imager

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Funding

The National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program)(2015AA042503)