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US 12,330,246 B2Granted
Systems and methods for additive manufacturing in a controlled short circuit welding system
AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.
InventorsRichard Martin Hutchison, Todd Gerald Batzler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is a welding system configured to perform additive manufacturing using a controlled short circuit welding process to apply a plurality of droplets of a wire to create a multilayer part comprised of the droplets. Operational parameters of the additive manufacturing system are dynamically adjusted based on data representing a temperature value and/or a geometric characteristic of the part. Based on the data, the controller can adjust one or more operational parameters to control application of droplets to build up the part.
Claims19
An arc welding additive manufacturing system, comprising:
- an arc welding additive manufacturing tool configured to receive a wire and to apply a plurality of droplets of the wire to a part comprising a plurality of layers, each layer comprising one or more droplets, wherein the additive manufacturing tool is a welding type tool to supply the plurality of droplets by melting the wire by creating an arc between the wire and the part;
- a wire feeder configured to move the wire to and away from the part;
- and
- a controller comprising one or more control circuits and configured to determine at least one of:
- a temperature of a region of the part upon which a droplet of the plurality of droplets is to be applied;
- and
- a geometric characteristic of the part associated with the region, wherein the controller is further configured to:
- in the case that the temperature of the region of the part is determined, change a size of the plurality of droplets by adjusting an operational characteristic of the system to form droplets of the plurality of droplets with varying sizes in response to the temperature of the region of the part, and control application of the droplets with varying sizes to the region of the part based on the temperature of the region of the part, wherein the plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part at the region;
- and
- in the case that the geometric characteristic of the part associated with the region is determined, change a size of the plurality of droplets by adjusting an operational characteristic of the system to form droplets of the plurality of droplets with varying sizes in response to the geometric characteristic of the region of the part, and control application of the droplets with varying sizes to the region of the part based on at the geometric characteristic of the region of the part, wherein the plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part at the region.
7 more elements
An additive manufacturing system, comprising:
- an additive manufacturing tool configured to receive a wire and to apply a plurality of droplets of the wire to a part comprising a plurality of layers, each layer comprising one or more droplets, wherein the additive manufacturing tool is a welding-type tool to supply the plurality of droplets by melting the wire by creating an arc between the wire and the part;
- a wire feeder configured to move the wire to and away from the part;
- and
- a controller comprising one or more control circuits and configured to determine at least one of:
- a temperature of a region of the part upon which a droplet of the plurality of droplets is to be applied;
- and
- a geometric characteristic of the part associated with the region, wherein the controller is further configured to:
- in the case that the temperature of the region of the part is determined, change a size of the plurality of droplets by adjusting an operational characteristic of the wire feeder to form droplets of the plurality of droplets with varying sizes in response the temperature of the region of the part, and control application of the droplets with varying sizes to the region of the part based on the temperature of the region of the part, wherein the plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part at the region;
- and
- in the case that the geometric characteristic of the part associated with the region is determined, change a size of the plurality of droplets by adjusting an operational characteristic of the system to form droplets of the plurality of droplets with varying sizes in response to the geometric characteristic of the region of the part, and control application of the droplets with varying sizes to the part based on the geometric characteristic of the region of the part, wherein the plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part at the region.
7 more elements
An additive manufacturing system, comprising:
- an additive manufacturing tool configured to receive a wire and to apply a plurality of droplets of the wire to a part comprising a plurality of layers, each layer comprising one or more droplets, wherein the additive manufacturing tool is a welding type tool to supply the plurality of droplets by melting the wire by creating an arc between the wire and the part;
- a welding type power supply to provide power to heat the wire to create droplets of the plurality of droplets with varying sizes;
- a wire feeder configured to move the wire to and away from the part;
- and
- a controller comprising one or more control circuits and configured to determine at least one of:
- a temperature of a region of the part upon which a droplet of the plurality of droplets is to be applied;
- and
- a geometric characteristic of the part associated with the region, wherein the controller is further configured to:
- in the case of the temperature of the region of the part being determined, adjust an operational characteristic of the welding type power supply including a contact-to-work distance to form the droplets with varying sizes in response to the temperature of the region of the part, and control application of the droplets with varying sizes to the part based on the temperature, wherein the plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part at the region;
- and
- in the case of the geometric characteristic of the region of the part being determined, control application of the droplets with varying sizes to the part based the geometric characteristic of the region of the part, wherein the plurality of droplets is configured to build up the part at the region.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.