Laser-assisted material spray processing
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsDonald Ernest Woodmansee, Xiangli Chen
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Abstract
A laser assisted thermal spray process for material spraying of a workpiece utilizes a primary energy source for producing a heating plume and a spray material injector for injecting a spray material comprising a plurality of particles into the heating plume. A deposit of the spray material transported by the heating plume is formed on the workpiece surface. The laser assisted thermal spray a process further utilizes a laser-heating system for irradiating a portion of the spray material and a portion of the targeted workpiece so as to limit incompletely melted particles thereon.
Claims27
A laser assisted thermal spraying system for material spraying of a workpiece, said system comprising:
- a primary energy source;
- a spray material injector for injecting a spray material comprising a plurality of particles into said primary energy source;
- a propelling means for introducing a flow of fuel gas within said primary energy source to establish a heating plume so as to propel said spray material in a molten envelope toward said workpiece;
- and
- a laser heating system producing a laser beam with an annular profile to be manipulated such that said annular profile of said laser beam approximately matches an overspray region;
- wherein said laser heating system is disposed to irradiate said overspray portion of said spray material such that said spray material within said overspray region is molten when deposited upon said workpiece so as to limit incompletely melted particles thereon.
A method of laser assisted thermal spraying comprising the steps of:
- generating a heating plume;
- directing said heating plume to impinge on a target workpiece;
- injecting a spray material comprising a plurality of particles into said heating plume so as to propel said spray material in a molten envelope toward said workpiece;
- irradiating an overspray region of said workpiece so as to supplement the heat provided by said heating plume with a laser heating system having a laser beam to fully melt any incompletely melted particles that are spread beyond the outer extent of said heating plume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.