Near Net Shape Production of Metal Components Using LENS.

Download or read book Near Net Shape Production of Metal Components Using LENS. written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rapid Prototyping and Near Net Shape manufacturing technologies are the subject of considerable attention and development efforts. At Sandia National Laboratories, one such effort is LENS (Laser Engineered Net Shaping). The LENS process utilizes a stream of powder and a focused Nd YAG laser to build near net shape fully dense metal parts. In this process, a 3-D solid model is sliced, then an X-Y table is rastered under the beam to build each slice. The laser 1 powder head is incremented upward with each slice and the deposition process is controlled via shuttering of the laser. At present, this process is capable of producing fully dense metal parts of iron, nickel and titanium alloys including tool steels and aluminides. Tungsten components have also been produced. A unique aspect of this process is the ability to produce components wherein the composition varies at differing locations in the part. Such compositional variations may be accomplished in either a stepped or graded fashion. In this paper, the details of the process will be described. The deposition mechanism will be characterized and microstructures and their associated properties will be discussed. Examples of parts which have been produced will be shown and issues regarding dimensional control and surface finish will be addressed.