Fabrication with regulated grain formation
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsNathan A. Ashmore, Gary W. Coleman, David Griffiths, Michelangelo Mortello, Robert James Scudamore, Lei Xu
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Abstract
A method of fabricating of an object includes causing a first heat source to heat a feed material to form a melt pool of the feed material on a surface. The method further includes causing a second heat source to heat the melt pool on the surface to regulate grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool as the melt pool cools and solidifies on the surface to form at least a portion of the object. The method also includes causing the first heat source and the second heat source to move relative to the surface as the melt pool is formed and cooled.
Claims20
A method of fabricating an object, the method comprising:
- causing a first heat source to heat a feed material to form a melt pool of the feed material on a surface;
- causing a second heat source to heat the melt pool on the surface to regulate equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool as the melt pool cools and solidifies on the surface to form at least a portion of the object, wherein the second heat source comprises a laser source that directs laser light toward a portion of the melt pool and heats the melt pool by varying a frequency, an intensity, or both, of the laser light to control equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool;
- and
- causing relative motion as the melt pool is formed and cooled, wherein the relative motion includes movement of the first and second heat sources relative to the surface, includes movement of the surface relative to the first and second heat sources, or both.
A system for fabrication of an object, the system comprising:
- a first heat source to heat a feed material to form a melt pool of the feed material on a surface;
- a second heat source to heat the melt pool on the surface to regulate equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool as the melt pool cools and solidifies on the surface to form at least a portion of the object, wherein the second heat source comprises a laser source to direct a laser light toward a portion of the melt pool, and wherein the second heat source is configured to heat the melt pool by varying a frequency, an intensity, or both, of the laser light to control equiaxed grain formation of the feed material in the melt pool;
- and
- a movement system to cause relative motion as the melt pool is formed and cooled, wherein the relative motion includes movement of the first and second heat sources relative to the surface, includes movement of the surface relative to the first and second heat sources, or both.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.