Rapid prototyping with high power fiber lasers

Laser rapid prototyping technologies comprise a set of technologies used in a wide range of materials to produce prototypes or small batches of complex shaped components. This paper presents a research work on rapid prototyping technology with laser additive manufacture of wire based alloy Ti-6Al-4V with an 8 kW fiber laser for the production of components with cylindrical geometry. For this, an engineering system was developed, a demonstration part produced and the deposition process was characterized. Two processing parameters were investigated: and these were the relative position between the wire feeding system and the substrate and the laser beam to wire width ratio. The former affects the molten metal transfer mode and the pressure exerted by the wire tip on the molten pool, while the laser beam to wire width ratio affects the process efficiency, since this is a compromise of process stability and process speed. Both parameters control surface finishing and the smoothness of the part. The melting efficiency of the process is low when compared to alternative processes involving powder pre deposition, but the density of the part is improved with homogeneous structural characteristics.