US 12,454,005 B2
Methods of optimizing 3-D printing parameters for metallic materials
Alaa Elwany, College Station, TX (US); Ibrahim Karaman, College Station, TX (US); Raymundo Arroyave, College Station, TX (US); Raiyan Seede, College Station, TX (US); Bing Zhang, College Station, TX (US); and Luke Johnson, College Station, TX (US)
Assigned to The Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX (US)
Filed by The Texas A&M University System, College Station, TX (US)
Filed on Oct. 13, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/500,004.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/090,882, filed on Oct. 13, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2022/0219239 A1, Jul. 14, 2022
Int. Cl. B22F 10/80 (2021.01); B33Y 30/00 (2015.01); B33Y 50/00 (2015.01); G06F 30/20 (2020.01); G06F 113/10 (2020.01)
CPC B22F 10/80 (2021.01) [B33Y 30/00 (2014.12); B33Y 50/00 (2014.12); G06F 30/20 (2020.01); G06F 2113/10 (2020.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for printing a defect-free metal part by a laser powder bed fusion system, the method comprising:
performing a simulation of melt pool temperature and melt pool geometries for an alloy at a plurality of combinations of a laser speed parameter and a laser power parameter;
creating an initial printability map based on the laser speed parameter and the laser power parameter based on the simulation of melt pool temperature and melt pool geometries;
defining, within the printability map, one or more regions of the printability map that correspond to one or more manufacturing defects;
sampling the printability map to determine a plurality of samples within the printability map, wherein each sample comprises a value of the laser speed parameter and a value of the laser power parameter;
printing a set of single-track experiments using the laser powder bed fusion system, wherein the laser powder bed fusion system is configured to print single tracks corresponding to the plurality of samples;
calibrating the printability map based on the set of single-track experiments to create a revised printability map;
generating a plurality of hatch spacing contours based on a geometric criterion, wherein the plurality of hatch spacing contours define a spacing between adjacent beads in a three-dimensional printed part;
adding the plurality of hatch spacing contours to the revised printability map to create a final printability map, wherein the final printability map represents a printability characteristic of the alloy at a plurality of combinations of laser speed, laser power, and hatch spacing;
printing a bulk sample of the alloy using the laser powder bed fusion system, wherein the laser powder bed fusion system is configured based on the finalized printability map;
measuring a bulk sample property of the bulk sample;
identifying an optimal combination of processing parameters based on the bulk sample property of the bulk sample;
configuring the laser powder bed fusion system to print the defect-free metal part using the optimal combination of processing parameters, wherein the optimal combination of processing parameters comprise laser speed, laser power, and hatch spacing; and
printing the defect-free metal part using the laser powder bed fusion system with the optimal combination of laser speed, laser power, and hatch spacing.