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Real-time process control of powder bed fusion by monitoring dynamic temperature field

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Abstract

This study aims to optimize the uniformity of the temperature field during sintering to improve part performance. A temperature-field monitoring system is established based on an infrared thermal imager and the temperature field data obtained during the sintering of a part can be measured in real time. The relationship among the sintering temperature field, sintering process parameters, and part performance is established experimentally. Subsequently, a temperature field monitoring and analysis system is constructed, and various sintering temperature-field control strategies are established for various part sizes. Finally, a dynamic control strategy for controlling the temperature field during sintering is proposed, experimentally validated, and fully integrated into a developed powder bed fusion (PBF) equipment. For eight-shaped standard parts, the range of sintering temperature field is optimized from 44.1 °C to 19.7 °C, whereas the tensile strength of the parts increased by 15.4%. For large-size H parts, localized over burning is eliminated and the final quality of the part is optimized. This strategy is critical for the optimization of the PBF process for large-sized parts, in particular in the large-sized die manufacturing industry, which offers promise in the optimization of part performance.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program) (Grant No. 2015AA042503).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Manufacturing Systems Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Xiao-Kang Huang, Xiao-Yong Tian, Qi Zhong, Shun-Wen He, Chun-Bao Huo, Yi Cao, Zhi-Qiang Tong & Di-Chen Li

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  1. Xiao-Kang Huang
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  3. Qi Zhong
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Correspondence to Xiao-Yong Tian.

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Huang, XK., Tian, XY., Zhong, Q. et al. Real-time process control of powder bed fusion by monitoring dynamic temperature field. Adv. Manuf. 8, 380–391 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40436-020-00317-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40436-020-00317-y

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