Search

Metal-based powder bed fusion with a laser beam (PBF-LB/M) can be applied to fabricate high-accuracy structures compared with other metal additive manufacturing (AM) methods. The rapid solidification of metal powder formed by laser irradiation introduces heterogeneous residual stress, which causes deformation and cracking of the structure. This, in turn, results in the deterioration of quality. In this study, the influence of the laser scan strategy on the residual stress distribution and warpage of the structure was investigated. Using maraging steel powder with an average particle size of 32.5 μm, the structures were constructed using several laser scan strategies at a wavelength of 1070 nm. The residual stress distributions on the surface of the structures were measured by the cosα method by applying X-ray diffraction (XRD). In addition, the warpage of the reverse side of the substrate as a foundation of the structure was measured by a stylus-type surface roughness measuring instrument. The results clarified that the structures constructed by unidirectional scan directions had a tensile residual stress that was generated parallel to the laser scan direction. Meanwhile, the compressive residual stress was generated perpendicular to the laser scan direction. The large warpage was aligned with the laser scan direction and tensile residual stress. When the laser scan direction was rotated by 90° for each layer, the residual stress distribution was generated with a cruciform shape. It was indicated that this residual distribution was caused by a laser scan on the top surface and a lower layer. The anisotropic residual stress distribution and reduction of warpage could be corrected by rotating the laser scan direction by 15° in each layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additively manufactured parts have recently been applied to products in aerospace, automobile, and tool industries in terms of design flexibility and material consumption with mechanical strength. Because the surfaces of additively manufactured parts are coarse, milling is conducted as a post-process to achieve fine surfaces within the specified tolerance. However, the microstructures and the mechanical properties of additively manufactured metals differ from those of wrought metals. Therefore, the cutting characteristics should be understood to determine the appropriate cutting parameters. The paper studies the cutting process in peripheral milling of additively manufactured maraging steel in a cutting model. The cutting force, the surface finish, the chip morphology, and the tool wear were evaluated through cutting tests. Although the hardness of the additively manufactured workpiece was higher than that of the wrought workpiece, the maximum cutting forces were approximately the same. An energy-based force model was applied to discuss the cutting force characteristics in terms of the shear area and the shear stress on the shear plane. In milling of additively manufactured workpiece, the shear stress on the shear plane becomes larger than that of the wrought workpiece. However, the shear plane length is short at a large shear angle. Therefore, the cutting force does not significantly increase. The typical change in the cutting force of the additively manufactured workpiece is also compared with that of the wrought workpiece in terms of the cutting model. The chip flow directions, then, are analyzed in the cutting force model. The chips of the additively manufactured workpiece flow more in the radial direction than those of the wrought workpiece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elastic grinding wheels have previously been adopted for the development of the mirror surface finishing method for concave spheres. In this study, new conductive elastic grinding wheels, to which electrolytic in-process dressing (ELID) can be applied, are developed; the aim of the study is to address the challenge of maintaining a constant removal rate for rubber bond wheels. When ELID grinding is performed using a non-diene (isobutane isoprene rubber, IIR)-based wheel, a larger removal amount is achieved, and a higher-quality surface is also achieved compared to a diene (acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, NBR)-based wheel. In addition, to investigate the effect of grinding wheel bond hardness on the removal amount and ground shape accuracy, grinding wheels with various levels of hardness are prepared by controlling the amount of carbon black contained in them, and grinding experiments are conducted. Thus, a larger removal amount is achieved using a harder grinding wheel, but the roughness of the ground surfaces deteriorates. Therefore, in practice, it is necessary to select an appropriate grinding wheel that can achieve both productivity and surface quality. Finally, to obtain a high-quality mirror finish on a concave spherical surface, ELID grinding is performed on the workpieces as is done for spherical lens molds. Thus, high-quality mirror surfaces with roughness Ra < 10 nm were generated. When the work pieces are ground using a grinding wheel of the same radius, excessive removal occurs at the edge of the concave spherical profile, decreasing the form accuracy. Numerical simulation demonstrates that chamfering of the grinding wheel is effective for improving the shape accuracy. The results of this study are expected to contribute to automation and cost reduction in the mirror-finishing process for concave molds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Titanium alloys are widely used for the hard tissue substitute implants. However, it is necessary to improve interfacial biocompatibility to reduce adhesion period. For improvement of biocompatibility of Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloys, texture and chemical composition on contact part with biological tissue play very important roles. In this research, micro texture was generated on the Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy surfaces utilizing laser irradiation, in order to improve biocompatibility. The biocompatibility was evaluated by osteoblast cell culture assays. The results indicated the surface having micro texture improve biocompatibility as compared with untreated surface. This was considered in order the fact that the formed modified surface had hydrophilicity, thereby improving the cell compatibility, and the cell adhesion due to the complicated shape. In addition, mist of glycerophosphoric acid calcium aqueous solution was applied on the laser irradiated area. As result, micro texture including Ca and P elements was generated on the Ti-6Al-4V ELI alloy surfaces. When laser was irradiated, glycerophosphoric acid calcium aqueous solution was applied as mist flowed on the test pieces as droplet. The velocity of droplet fluid was relatively fast, so that laser irradiation was unhindered access to the surface of test pieces and the treatment was stable. In order to estimate biocompatibility, culture assays using osteoblast cells were conducted on the treated surface having micro texture including Ca and P elements. As results, it was clearly that biocompatibility of the specimen treated by laser with glycerophosphoric acid calcium aqueous solution mist more improved than either untreated specimen or treated specimen soaked in glycerophosphoric acid calcium aqueous solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]