System for AM Metal Alloy Development (SAMAD)

 To accelerate the design of new alloys for additive manufacturing and to investigate alternate processing methods, a custom built laser powder-blown directed energy deposition system is being developed.  Laser powder-blown DED has become a major focus within AM due to flexible processing (e.g., > 5-axis processing and functionally graded material capability). The process consists of a nozzle that uses carrier gas, such as argon, to blow powders onto a substrate where a laser melts the deposited powders and substrate; the nozzle and laser can either move in tandem or the workpiece is translated below such that individual tracks and layers are created. Multiple layers of deposition and re-melting leads to a fully realized metal part.

This rapid-deposition technology will be used to screen new alloy systems or quickly evaluate a variety of feasible compositions. The DED system at NIST consists of a coaxial ring nozzle, two electrostatic powder feeders, and it is built on a hybrid manufacturing platform with machining capabilities. Two lasers can be used with the system: (1) a single-mode laser with a Gaussian distribution and (2) a multi-mode laser with both Gaussian and ring mode distributions. This multi-functional platform will enable fundamental connections between process and material structure and address the gap in alloy development for metal AM.   

This system was originally developed by Sam Webster, who is now at the Colorado School of Mines.