Laser Powder Deposition
Laser Powder Direct Energy Deposition
(LPDED) is a process where a laser
forms a highly localized melt by supplying an injected powder stream of metals and/or ceramics and articulating robotic movement for printing/cladding of high density, metallurgically bonded surfaces and structures. The Additive Manufacturing Laboratory (AML) joined with AMP Lab in 2019 and currently houses a 3kW Nd-YAG laser, a 300W fiber laser, and three multi-axis robotics systems, enabling deposition of metals and ceramics on a wide variety of base materials of many shapes and sizes. This technology is used for solid freeform fabrication [3D printing], brazing, welding, and cladding. Laser cladding is one of the AML’s primary focus areas, where the resulting deposition exhibits superior abrasion and/or corrosion resistance. In 2015 researchers successfully patented internationally and transitioned an internal diameter cladding method and system that is currently used for the production of high performance plastic manufacturing equipment "VERTICAL LASER CLADDING SYSTEM". LPDED is useful in many industrial applications, significantly increasing equipment life in agriculture, aerospace, and mining industries, among many others.
