Kinematic weld-pool control for additive manufacturing with high-performance materials by gas tungsten arc welding

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Burkhard Corves; Professor Dr.-Ing. Uwe Reisgen
• Subject Area: Production Automation and Assembly Technology
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442454814

With regard to resource-saving production and expanded lightweight construction strategies, additive manufacturing (AM) of high-performance materials with the tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process opens up new possibilities in terms of deposition rate and thus cost-effectiveness. The disadvantage is that the process is very limited with regard to the geometric complexity of the components. The aim of the project is to develop a new concept for work piece manipulation in order to enable a production process of complex components without restrictions. An essential component of this additive manufacturing strategy is kinematic-electrical melt pool control by means of component integrated handling. The interdisciplinary fusion of the scientific fields of welding technology and robotics is a characteristic feature of this project. By means of a fundamental process analysis of characteristic welding paths for additive production with the TIG-welding process, a profound understanding of the molten pool behaviour with regard to the kinematics and welding parameters is to be created. A parameter space is systematically stored, its limits defined and optimal parameter configurations determined. Subsequently, the determined data is used to create a predictive model for fast parameter determination for new welding paths and production conditions. Particularly important is the time-synchronous integral planning, optimization and control of the motion and welding process.These findings are validated using the example of a complex reference component. At the end of the project, a level of knowledge will be achieved that will enable the rapid implementation of a technology transfer and thus replace previous resource-intensive processes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants