P. Bhargava

An Experimental Investigation and Analysis of PTAW Process

Experiments are conducted to deposit SS304 L powders on SS316 plates by plasma transfer arc welding process with varying four input process parameters, namely scanning speed, powder feed rate, stand-off distance, and current. The effects of these four input process parameters on deposition geometry, dilution, and bead continuity are investigated in this study. Attempts have been made to explain the experimental results with only two compound parameters, “energy deposition per length” and “powder deposition per length” instead of four independent input process parameters. It is observed that the variation of dilution is very little when the scanning speed increases from 100 to 600 mm/min and other process parameters remain constant. When the powder feed rate increases and other parameters remain constant, initially the dilution decreases rapidly and attains a minimum value which do not change further with increase in powder feed rate. It is also observed that the dilution remains almost constant around 6–9% as the stand-off distance changes from 7 to 11 mm and other process parameters remain constant. The formation of nonuniform bead is found to be due to insufficient energy deposition per length per mass of supplied powder.

Numerical Simulation of Laser Rapid Manufacturing of Multi-Layer Thin Wall Using an Improved Mass Addition Approach

An improved mass addition approach based on enthalpy balance is used for the numerical simulation of the temperature distributions and geometries during laser rapid manufacturing (LRM) of a multi-layered thin-wall. The approach involves the estimation of the local track height at every node along the track width on the substrate/previously deposited layer by simultaneous balancing of the excessive enthalpies above solidus temperature about the laser axis and the material interface at the substrate/previously deposited layer for material addition during the laser rapid manufacturing of a multi-layer thin wall. It takes laser power, laser beam size, scan-speed, powder feed rate, powder stream diameter, and time-delay between the deposition of two subsequent tracks as user-defined input, and computes the temperature distributions and the geometries of the deposited layers across the process domain in a dynamic fashion. In the present study, the laser rapid manufacturing of five layered thin walls of SS 304L on a work piece of the same material was simulated for various combinations of processing parameters and compared with experimental results. The percentage errors in simulated and corresponding experimental cumulative track heights along with track width were calculated and compared with those of other existing models and the results of present approach were found to be the least. The result indicates that the height and width of the layer under deposition depends on the geometry and temperature distribution of previously deposited layer and, consequently, governed the final geometry of thin wall.

Analysis of Discontinuous Bead Formation by PTAW Process

This research investigates the effects of input parameters on discontinuities in bead formation during material deposition by the plasma transferred arc welding (PTAW) process. Experiments based on L27 orthogonal array have been carried out by deposition of stainless steel powder (SS304 L) on stainless steel plate (SS316). Three types of depositions have been observed, namely continuous, partially continuous and discontinuous deposition. A process map has been developed, based upon powder and energy deposition per length, where the above-mentioned three types of depositions are distributed. The discontinuities in the deposition can be overcome by increasing the energy deposition per length or by reducing the powder deposition per length.

Laser-Assisted Manufacturing: Fundamentals, Current Scenario, and Future Applications

This chapter presents the basic principles, applications, and future prospects of various laser-assisted manufacturing techniques used for material removal, joining, and additive manufacturing. The laser hazard and safety aspect is also briefly included.