Design and Manufacturing of a Protective Nozzle for Highly Reactive Materials Processing via Laser Material Deposition

Abstract

Laser Material Deposition (LMD) is a near-net-shape additive process. Powder particles are usually employed as filler material, which is injected through a powder nozzle (coaxial or off-axis) and then completely molten by a laser beam. The possibility to add material on complex 3D surfaces makes LMD a key process in the repair and wear/corrosion protection applications. The present work is focused on the improvement of the design & manufacturing of a LMD nozzle, what introduces two main advantages: the possibility to process a wider variety of materials by generating a protective atmosphere and the improvement of the efficiency of the nozzle. The results of numerical simulations are used for optimizing the design of the protective cone of the LMD nozzle, which is then manufactured and experimentally validated. Finally, the proper performance of the resultant nozzle is tested depositing Ti6Al4 V.