3 / 2021-05-24 11:19:35

Experimentally validated predictions of geometry and thermal history of TC11 titanium alloy single-track in laser cladding

Laser cladding, Numerical simulation, Thermal distribution, Single track geometry

Titanium alloys are widely used in aviation, aerospace, naval ships and weapons because of their high specific strength, high flexion ratio, heat and corrosion resistance. In order to lay the foundation for laser cladding forming of TC11 titanium alloy, numerical predictions of geometry and thermal history of TC11 titanium alloy single-track based on a developed three-dimensional numerical model were conducted and experimentally validated. The track profile of numerical simulation agrees with the experiment result basically with a prediction error of track width and track height less than 6.5%, and temperature evolution curves of the center point of molten pool from the numerical simulation and experimental results are almost consistent. Furthermore, effects of laser power and scanning speed on the temperature distribution and geometry of TC11 titanium alloy single-track were quantitively analyzed. Results show that either an increase of the laser power or a decrease of scanning speed leads to an increase of the molten pool temperature and the geometrical size of the cladding including the track height and width. The research results in this paper can effectively reduce the number of technological tests of TC11 titanium alloy laser cladding and its costs, while improving the deposition efficiency.Titanium alloys are widely used in aviation, aerospace, naval ships and weapons because of their high specific strength, high flexion ratio, heat and corrosion resistance. In order to lay the foundation for laser cladding forming of TC11 titanium alloy, numerical predictions of geometry and thermal history of TC11 titanium alloy single-track based on a developed three-dimensional numerical model were conducted and experimentally validated. The track profile of numerical simulation agrees with the experiment result basically with a prediction error of track width and track height less than 6.5%, and temperature evolution curves of the center point of molten pool from the numerical simulation and experimental results are almost consistent. Furthermore, effects of laser power and scanning speed on the temperature distribution and geometry of TC11 titanium alloy single-track were quantitively analyzed. Results show that either an increase of the laser power or a decrease of scanning speed leads to an increase of the molten pool temperature and the geometrical size of the cladding including the track height and width. The research results in this paper can effectively reduce the number of technological tests of TC11 titanium alloy laser cladding and its costs, while improving the deposition efficiency.