Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

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Surface & Coatings Technology

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Laser rapid manufacturing on vertical surfaces: Analytical and experimental studies

C.P. Paul , S.K. Mishra, Atul Kumar, L.M. Kukreja
Laser Materials Processing Division, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, PO: RRCAT, Indore, 452 013 MP, India

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 9 November 2012
Accepted in revised form 21 February 2013
Available online 5 March 2013
Keywords:
Laser rapid manufacturing on
vertical surfaces
Track geometry
Analytical modelling
Gravity effect

a b s t r a c t
Analytical and experimental studies on geometrical aspects of the deposited tracks were carried out at different
processing parameters for laser rapid manufacturing (LRM) in vertical surface conguration using AISI type 304
stainless steel powder on the substrate of the same material. The vertical downward shift of the deposited track
and its peak due to the gravity ow of the melt were found to follow quadratic dependence on the track height.
The downward rounded bulging was found to be quite signicant for the scan speeds lesser than 200 mm/min,
while this was insignicant for the scan speeds more than 400 mm/min. A set of consolidated processing parameters for continuous material deposition was identied. The threshold value of laser energy and powder fed, both per
unit traverse length for the continuous deposition were found to be ~96 J/mm and ~0.006 g/mm respectively. The
maximum powder catchment efciency was ~42% for stand-off distances in the range of 1518 mm. The surface
waviness factor was found to decrease from ~0.95 to ~0.05 when the overlap index was increased from 30% to
80%. The study provides a deeper insight into the ensuing geometrical aspects of the tracks using LRM in vertical
conguration.
2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Laser rapid manufacturing (LRM) is one of the advanced additive
manufacturing processes. It is similar to laser cladding/alloying at the process end with an extended capability of fabricating three-dimensional object directly from a solid model. LRM employs a high power laser beam as
a heat source to melt a thin layer on the surface of the substrate/deposited
material and fed material to deposit a new layer as per shape and dimensions dened in numerical control code as per the solid model. A number
of such layers are deposited one over another resulting in three dimensional (3D) components. LRM offers many advantages over conventional
subtractive techniques, such as reduced production time, better process
control and capability to form functionally graded parts [1]. It employs a
high power laser like CO2, Nd:YAG, diode and bre as energy source to
melt and deposit a layer of the desired material in the form of powder
or wire onto the substrates/previously deposited layers forming a sound
metallurgical bond [2]. A wide variety of the deposit materials and substrates are reported in literature for various applications in automotive,
aerospace, machinery, petrochemical, power generation and shipbuilding
industries [16]. Since most of the laser rapid manufacturing applications
involve deposition of materials on the horizontal surfaces, there have
been theoretical and experimental studies of laser rapid manufacturing
process in the horizontal conguration [713]. The technology is
also being investigated for the laser rapid manufacturing of porous

Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 731 248 8384; fax: +91 731 248 8380.
E-mail address: paulcp@rrcat.gov.in (C.P. Paul).
0257-8972/$ see front matter 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.surfcoat.2013.02.044

structures [14]. Alimardani et al. developed a comprehensive model to

evaluate the track geometry [15]. The model used the conservation of
mass within the process domain for material addition to predict local
track height by incorporating catchment efciency into powder feed
on the molten substrate surface for each time interval. Hofman et al. developed a FEM based model for the determination of the track geometry
and dilution during the process [16]. An analytical approach for estimating the track geometries (height and width) was presented by Wang et
al. based on the mass conservation of powder feeding stream [17]. The
simulation was capable of predicting the track width and height with
reasonable accuracy at medium powder feed rate. Recently, Kumar et
al. used a ner modelling approach for numerically predicting single
track geometry in two dimensions [18]. The approach involved the calculation of excessive enthalpies above melting point for all nodal points
in the process domain and using those for the computation of local
track height at every node along the track width on the substrate. LRM
in vertical conguration did not nd much attention except for a few efforts reporting the development of laser vertical cladding system [19,20].
LRM on vertical surface substrate conguration is important for many engineering applications, such as surface cladding of turbine blade shroud
and interlock, off-shore drilling heads, cylinder body, sleeve and mould
side walls etc. This paper presents theoretical and experimental investigations on dynamic geometrical aspects of the tracks at different processing
parameters for LRM on vertical surface conguration using AISI type 304
stainless steel powder on the surface of the same material. A newly
designed LRM head was augmented to the existing laser workstation
and successfully used for LRM on vertical surface substrate conguration.
An analytical model incorporating gravity force was developed to understand its effect on molten deposits and its subsequent downward ow

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

Nomenclature
ai
A
Cp
D
El
g
hc
H0
hmax
hmin
i
j
k
k1
L1
L2
Lm
M
md
_p
m
mp/l
PL
Pp
Rg
rl
rp
st
s
T
Tamb
Tm
U(z)
V
v
W
w
wmax
X
Y
Z

activity of species i in molten pool, weight %

constant in surface tension gradient, N/(m K)
specic heat capacity, J/(kg K)
thermal diffusivity of the material, m 2/s
laser energy per unit traverse length, kJ/m
gravity, m/s 2
combined heat transfer coefcient for radiative and
convective boundary conditions W/(m 2 K)
standard heat of adsorption, J/(kg.mol)
maximum height of the deposited/overlapped track, m
minimum height of the overlapped tracks, m
overlap index
waviness factor
thermal conductivity, W/(m K)
constant related to entropy of segregation (3.18 103)
melt pool length in the forward direction, m
melt pool length in the rear direction, m
latent heat of melting, kJ/kg
atomic mass
powder deposited per unit traverse length, kg/m
powder feed rate, kg/s
powder fed per unit traverse length, kg/m
laser power, kW
laser power loss in the powder stream, kW
gas constant J/(kg.mol.K)
radius of laser beam, m
Gaussian powder stream radius, m
centre distance between the two successive overlap
track, m
line element on the top boundary of the molten deposit, m
temperature, K
ambient temperature, K
melting temperature, K
local uid ow velocity at distance z from the substrate
molar volume of the metal, m 3/mol
scan speed, m/s
overall track width, m
melt pool width, m
maximum melt pool width, m
dimensionless linear dimension (=x/rl)
dimensionless linear dimension (=y/rl)
dimensionless linear dimension (=z/rl)

Greek symbols
l
laser absorptivity

surface tension on the top boundary of the molten

deposit, N/m
 p 

dimensionless time 2Dt =r l

surface excess at saturation J/(kg mol m 2)
s

emissivity of the deposit surface

c
powder catchment efciency
L
kinematic viscosity, m 2/s

density, kg/m 3
L
density of liquid metal, kg/m 3

dimensionless speed (= rlv/D)

tendency before solidication for prediction of track geometry. The consolidated processing parameters for various values of laser energy per
unit length of track, powder fed per unit length of track and overlapping
indices for this process were experimentally identied. The effect of

19

powder catchment efciency at various stand-off distances and overlap

indices on waviness factor of the overlapped tracks was also experimentally evaluated.
2. Experimental setup
LRM head was specially designed for vertical conguration and
augmented with LRM work station consisting of a 2 kW bre laser
system, a 5 axis workstation in a glove box, a computerized numerical
controller and a twin powder feeder [1]. The schematic arrangement
of LRM head is presented in Fig. 1.
The external size of the nozzle is 63 mm 63 mm 60 mm and is
capable of depositing material on the inside diameter (ID) of a circular
tube having minimum ID of 75 mm. This head has two sub-assemblies:
(a) laser processing head and (b) side blown powder feeding tube.
While designing the LRM head for vertical conguration, two major
objectives were considered: rst to achieve the compact-design for processing the components having narrow passage/opening and second to
provide the least perturbation in the powder-gas stream avoiding sudden or sharp bends. These two objectives were met by providing the
powder feeding from the bottom of the LRM head. This conguration
also facilitated the same laserpowder-interaction zone and associated
phenomena on the vertical surface during the deposition of the material
by the movement of the LRM head in either direction horizontally. However, the powder catchment efciency in the present conguration was
compromised as compared to that of conventional in-line/side-blown
powder feeding conguration [2]. The laser processing head has a Quartz
lens of 200 mm focal length to focus the laser beam. The focusing laser
beam is reected normal to the vertical plane by a water cooled Aucoated plane mirror (diameter: 25 mm and 6 mm thick) mounted at
45 to the incoming laser beam axis in beam-bender. There is a provision
of moving beam-bender up and down to match the laser beam size to the
powder stream size at the substrate to facilitate the maximum powder
catchment efciency. The laser beam diameter of 2 mm was used in the
present study. A port for inert gas is provided at the upper part of laser
processing head to protect the Au-coated mirror from ricocheted powder
particles which may enter the beam-bender and damage the mirror. This
gas also assists the shielding of molten metal from oxidation. The laser
processing head has suitable water ow arrangement to cool the processing head during the deposition of tracks. The side blown powder feeding
tube has inside diameter of 2 mm and is mounted at the bottom of the
laser head at an inclination angle of 35 to the laser beam axis. The material used for the construction of laser head is copper due to lower laser absorption and higher thermal conductivity.
3. Analytical modelling
For LRM on vertical surfaces, the powder is sprayed by a lateral nozzle
into the process zone. A moving laser beam with known intensity prole
melts the powder particles and a thin layer of the vertical substrate. As
shown in Fig. 1, the laser beam strikes the substrate through powder particles cloud. A fraction of the laser power is absorbed, reected and
scattered by the powder particles and the rest reaches the substrate.
Some portion of its power is reected and the remainder is absorbed
forming a molten pool on the substrate. The absorbed power is carried
away from the melt pool surface into the feed powder and the substrate
by thermal conduction and thermo-capillary (Marangoni) ow. Once
the powder particle reaches the substrate surface, one of the following
processes takes place inuencing the powder catchment efciency:
a. Solid particlesolid surface impact leading to ricochet.
b. Solid particleliquid surface leading to catchment.
c. Liquid particlesolid surface leading to catchment and quenching
of substrate.
d. Liquid particleliquid surface leading to catchment.

20

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

Fig. 1. Schematic arrangement of laser cladding head for processing vertical surfaces.

During material deposition using moving Gaussian heat source on

semi-innite substrate accounting the power loss in the powder stream
and vaporization heat ux, ignoring convective and radiation heat losses,
an analytical model was presented by Ahsan et al. [21,22]. According to
this model, the temperature distribution is given by

laser beam passes away [18]. For better laser energy deployment
and improved powder utilization, the width of powder stream should
nearly be laser beam diameter. For this, the maximum height of track
may be written as

l P L P p
T x; y; z
f x; y; z; v
kr l

h max

where the temperature distribution function f(x, y, z, v) is

f x; y; z; v 0 

ExpH
p3 d
2

1 2



2 2
Y 2
X2
Z2


H
2:
2
2 1
2

"

2r2l
r 2p

#!


C p T m T amb Lm :

Assuming that the track height has parabolic cross section along
xz plane [23] and deriving w(y) from the melt-pool geometry on
the top layer of the substrate, the track height at any point (x, y) is
given by
"
hx; y hmax 1

y L2 2
L1 L2 2

#"
1

x2
wy2

#
6

where,

Here, Pp can be obtained from the following equation [21]

_ p 1 Exp
Pp m

_p
c m
:
2L r l v

The melt pool boundary was estimated by calculating the temperature prole for T > Tmelt from Eq. (1). Thus obtained moving melt
pool is divided into two regions, one representing the front part of
the pool and another representing the rear part of the pool. As described by Ahsan and Pinkerton [22], the boundaries of these regions
of pool may be approximated as half ellipses dened by the melt pool
width (w) and the melt pool length in the forward direction, L1, and
the melt pool length in the rear direction, L2 (refer to Fig. 2). The
melt pool has asymmetry about the x-axis that increases with the
scanning speed. The maximum height of track can be deduced by following the principle of conservation of energy and mass for powder
particle ow, as described in our previous work. It may be noted
that Marangoni ow is important for the prediction of melt pool
boundaries. In the present study, the effect of uid motion due to
the thermo-capillary (Marangoni) phenomena is incorporated by
modifying the thermal conductivity K for the estimation of track geometry. Since the track material is just above the melting point during
LRM, other phenomena, like gravity, surface tension, viscous forces,
predominate for the shape of the molten metal drop as the moving

s
y2
wy r l 1 2 for y > 0
L
s1
2
y
rl 1 2 for yb0:
L2

Once the powder particles reach the molten pool on the vertical surface, it gets melted and trapped by the surface tension and viscous
forces (both temperature dependent) and counter acting gravity force.
The details of temperature dependence of the material properties are

Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of a moving melt pool in y-direction during LRM on vertical
surface.

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

discussed in the later part of this section (in Eqs. 1517). In the present
section, a simplied model is presented in 2-D conguration where the
shape of the molten metal drop is resulted from the downward ow
under gravity, surface tension, viscous forces as the moving laser
beam passes away. Fig. 3(a) and (b) show the schematics of the molten
metal proles under gravity of melt-pool at time t = 0 at a point in xz
plane and at time t = (2rl/v), i.e. at the time when laser passed through
that point. As the molten metal is viscous and gets solidied as the moving laser beam passes away, the ow of molten metal is in laminar regime. This ow of molten metal due to gravity is resisted by the
viscosity and the surface tension at the free surface of liquid metal. Following Newtonian uid relationship for viscosity incorporating the
gravity and Kim and Na [24], the ow of molten metal may be described
as
L

U z
d T
L gz
dT s
z

One can substitute values of 1 and DTS from Eqs. (9) and (11) into
Eq. (8). After integrating it, one obtains
L U z L g

d
Kai
s H 0
1 A Rg s ln1 Kai
dT
1 Kai T

"
#
rl
z2
L g 1 DTS z :
v L
2

14

Eq. (14) can be solved to get the loci of the top boundary of the
track. In the above, time of solidication of deposit is the same as
that of laser interaction time. It is to be noted here that the local
layer uid displacement (x) is less at higher scan speeds due to
lower laser interaction time and subsequently lower time of local solidication. Material properties of AISI 304 stainless steel used in the
calculations are taken from Kim and Na [24] and they are given in
Table 1.
The temperature dependence of the density [29] and viscosity [30]
of liquid metal is incorporated as follows:
L T b

!
10



1 A1 A3 1
1A2

15

where,

and

TT m
T b T m
A1 1:829
A2 0:03MT m =T b 0:5 2:7  104 MT m =T b 2 A1 1

A3 m 1A2 1A1 :
b

T
h TT amb
:
DTS c
k
s

11

Here, hc is given by [27]

hc 24:1  10

13

In the above equation, the constant of integration is calculated as

zero by using boundary condition z = 0, U(z) = 0.
The local layer uid displacement (x) will be function of local uid
velocity U(z) [~xv/rl] of layers at different values of z and laser interaction time (t = 2rl/v) due to solidication of deposit. The deposit solidies as soon as the laser beam passes away. Simplication gives

where
H0
Rg T

z2
1 DTS z:
2

where, U(z)/ z is the velocity gradient perpendicular to the layers of

uid ow in the molten pool.
The temperature dependent surface tension gradient for alloys
[2426] is given by

K k1 exp

21

1:61

12

A value of 0.9 was assumed for , as recommended for hot rolled

steel [28].

16

Here, subscripts m, b, and s in Eqs. (15) and (16) refer to the melting point, boiling point, and saturation state, respectively. Further,
L T A:

1=2
M
T
1=2
:T : exp B: m
2=3
T
V

Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of deposited clad prole at (a) t = 0 and (b) t = (2rl/v).

17

22

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

Table 1
Material properties of AISI 304 stainless steel.
Parameter

Unit

Value

ai
A

Rg
Tm
H0
s
k

wt.%
N/(m K)
kg/m3
kg/(m s)

J/(kg mol K)
K
J/(kg.mol)
J/(kg mol m2)
W/(m K)

0.001
1.0 104
7200
0.05
0.9
8314.3
1723
1.88 108
1.3 108
580

where,

1=2
A 1:80  0:38  108 J=Kmol1=3
B 2:34  0:2:

downward shift of the deposit and its peak. The height (z) of the
deposit is a function of powder feed per unit length for given laser
power and the same stand-off distance. Also, higher height of the
track results in higher uid velocity at farthest layer, where z = hmax.
Thus, the higher powder feed per unit length leads to higher shift of deposit and its peak for the same system conguration.
Fig. 4(a)(d) present the analytical results showing the effect of
gravity at various scan speeds on the track geometry for a set of
laser processing parameters (laser power = 1.6 kW and powder
feed rate = 10 g/min). It is evident that the deposit shifts downward
at lower scan speeds (v = 200 mm/min). Little shift is observed for
scan speed of 400 mm/min and it is insignicant for higher scan
speeds (v 700 mm/min). It is because for higher scan speeds, the
interaction time is also small and hence, the time period for deposit
to remain in molten state is small. As a result, higher effective viscosity counters the ow of molten deposit under gravity. On the contrary, at lower scan speeds leads to higher interaction time and
longer time period for deposit to remain in molten state. The lower

4. Experimental studies
AISI type 304 stainless steel is general purpose austenitic stainless
steel with a face centred cubic structure. It derives its stainless characteristics through the formation of an invisible and adherent Chromium
rich oxide lm. It is essentially non-magnetic in the annealed condition
and can only be hardened by cold working. As this material is used
widely for various industrial applications, it has been selected as the
feed material for present study. Comprehensive experimental study
was carried out on the substrate of the same material (size: 75 mm
diameter and 12 mm thick) to study the effect of different processing
parameters on the track geometry. Initially, a number of single tracks
were deposited at various combination of laser power, scan speed and
powder feed rate. Table 2 summarizes the experimental trials and subsequent deposited track geometries. The cross sections of these tracks
were examined using optical microscopy. The images of these tracks
were used to measure track dimensions, i.e., width and height. The single tracks were also deposited at various stand-off distances. The powder catchment efciency was evaluated experimentally by measuring
the weight of the substrate before and after single track deposition
using precision electronic balance having least count of 1 mg. The effect
of overlapping parameter on the surface roughness and waviness of
the overlapped tracks was experimentally determined by measuring the surface nish using TaylorHobson make surface roughness
tester model: Surtronic 3 + and height gauge with puppy dial and
9pt?>sub-millimetre probe respectively. To demonstrate LRM on vertical
surfaces applications, the developed LRM head was used on concave and
convex surfaces of tubular geometry.
5. Results and discussion
5.1. Effect of laser processing parameters on deposited track geometry
Experiments were carried out with bre laser of beam diameter
2.0 mm. As illustrated in Eq. (14), the local uid displacement in the
molten pool due to gravity depends primarily on interaction time
[=laser beam diameter (2.rl)/scan speed (v)] and consequently on
the solidication rate. The larger interaction time allows more period
for uid to ow downward resulting in shifted deposit and its peak.
The uid properties, i.e., density, viscosity and surface tension of molten metal govern the ow tendency under gravity of the deposit. As
these properties are the functions of the molten pool temperature,
the lower interaction time results in lower bulk mean average temperature of molten pool and consequently, it leads to higher average
density and extremely high viscosity. Subsequently, it results in little

Table 2
Experimental trials and measured dimensions of deposits.
Laser power

Scan speed

Powder feed rate

m/min

g/min

Height

Width

Remark

mm

mm

800
800
800

200
400
700

6
6
6

0.815
0.325
0.225

2.375
1.75
1.61825

800

1000

0.17

1.2525

1200

400

0.085

1.378

1200
1200
1200

400
700
1000

6
6
6

0.5
0.33
0.285

2.195
1.9475
1.96

1600

700

0.31

3.131

1600
1600
1600
800
800
800

400
700
1000
200
400
700

6
6
6
10
10
10

0.64
0.42
0.38
1.105
0.56
0.285

2.71
2.2425
2.915
2.265
1.9225
1.7225

800

1000

10

0.175

1.6225

1200
1200
1200

400
700
1000

10
10
10

0.655
0.335
0.27

2.5675
2.41
2.245

1600
1600
1600
800
800
800

400
700
1000
200
400
700

10
10
10
14
14
14

0.725
0.515
0.425
1.44
0.81
0.41

2.96
2.71
2.5725
2.4675
1.905
1.7325

800

1000

14

0.27

1.5875

800

400

18

1.89

2.623

1200

400

14

0.95

2.4075

1200
1200

700
1000

14
14

0.5
0.355

2.395
2.2425

1600
1600
1600

400
700
1000

14
14
14

0.955
0.525
0.43

3.1475
2.5025
2.635

Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Regular deposit
Non-uniform
deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit
Regular deposit

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

23

Fig. 4. Vertical transverse cross section of track as per analytical model with laser power of 800 W and powder feed rate of 10 g/min at various scan speeds: (a) 200 mm/min, (b)
400 mm/min, (c) 700 mm/min, and (d) 1000 mm/min.

effective viscosity offer lesser resistance to the ow of molten deposit

under gravity. It is necessary to mention here that the contribution due
to temperature dependent surface tension gradient term (1DTSz) is
one order less than the gravity dependent term in Eq. (4). Hence, the
vertical downward shift of the deposited track and its peak due to the
gravity ow of the melt predominantly follows square dependence of
the track height. Fig. 5(a)(d) present the experimental results for the
above sets of laser processing parameters. The effect of gravity at various scan speeds on the track geometry is evident at lower scan speed
in both analytical and experimental results.
Fig. 6(a)(c) present the analytical results showing the effect of
gravity at various powder feed rate for scan speed of 200 mm/min.
It is observed that the increase in powder feed rate results in increase
in deposit's height [18] and subsequently higher downward shift of
deposit's peak. There is a little shift of deposit's peak at powder feed
rate of 6 g/min and it is increased to a sizable value at 14 g/min.
The larger shift at higher powder feed rate for the same set of processing parameters is primarily due to increase in deposit's height
(refer to Eq. (4)). This higher height gets higher localized uid velocity due to its larger distance from the substrate. This higher localized

uid velocity results in higher shift of deposit's peak for the same interaction time. Fig. 7(a)(c) presents the experimental results for the
above sets of laser processing parameters. The effect of gravity at various powder feed rates on the track geometry is evident in both analytical and experimental results.
The maximum displacement of deposit's peak (i.e., at z = hmax)
for various scan speeds was obtained from Eq. (14) and their comparison with experimental data is presented in Fig. 8. It clearly indicates
that the shift of deposit's peak is the cumulative effect of surface tension, viscous force against gravity, scan speed and deposit's maximum
height. The term exhibiting the effect of surface tension, viscous force
against gravity is due to vertical orientation of the surface for LRM. It
may be noted that the shift of deposit's peak increases with decrease
in the scan speed for the same deposit height and it is parabolic for
lower scan speeds (v b 200 mm/min). At relatively higher scan
speed (e.g. v ~ 400 mm/min), the shift of deposit's peak tends to be
a straight line for various deposit heights, while it is negligible for
higher scan speeds (v 700 mm/min). The experimental results for
the shift of deposit's peak for various deposit heights are in agreement with that of analytical modelling.

24

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

Fig. 5. Vertical transverse cross section of track as per experimental model with laser power of 800 W and powder feed rate of 10 g/min at various scan speeds: (a) 200 mm/min,
(b) 400 mm/min, (c) 700 mm/min, and (d) 1000 mm/min.

5.2. Processing parameters for material deposition on vertical surface

It was observed that a minimum threshold laser power, sufcient interaction time and optimal powder ow rate were required for successful deposition of material in vertical conguration (refer to Table 2).
However, we nd the effect of these three parameters can be accounted
with the following two parameters:
Laser Energy per unit traverse length El


Powder fed per unit traverse length mp=l
 
_p
Powder feed rate m
:

Scan Speed v

Laser Power P L
Scan Speed v

18

19

The parameters laser energy per unit traverse length and powder fed per unit traverse length governs the laser energy and the material available for the single track deposition, respectively. Fig. 9
presents the consolidated processing parameters for LRM on the vertical surface for the experimental range of parameters under investigation. At extremely high laser energy per unit traverse length and
lower powder fed per unit traverse length, there may be vaporization
of the feed material. As a result, there may be very thin or no track
formation. On the contrary, at extremely low laser energy per unit
traverse length and higher powder fed per unit traverse length, the
feed material may not fuse and form a discontinuous irregular track.
Hence, there is processing zone, where a balance of both the parameters, results in fused continuous track. The threshold value of laser energy and powder fed, both per unit traverse length for the continuous
deposition were found to be ~96 J/mm and ~0.006 g/mm respectively.

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

25

Fig. 6. Vertical transverse cross section of track as per analytical model with laser power of 800 W and scan speed of 200 mm/min at various powder feed rates: (a) 6 g/min,
(b) 10 g/min, and (c) 14 g/min.

Our experimental study with other material depicts a similar trend. The
obtained consolidated processing parameters are found to be closer in
terms of trend and values to the earlier published similar work for
laser rapid manufacturing in horizontal conguration [31,32].
5.3. Powder catchment efciency
The powder catchment efciency is one of the important processing
parameters for high quality track geometry and economical viability of
the process. It is the ratio of the powder deposited to the powder fed for
the deposition during the LRM process. Mathematically,
c

Powder deposited per unit length md

 
Powder fed per unit length mp :

20

Maximum powder efciency is obtained when there is nearly full

overlap of powder stream diameter and laser beam diameter at the
substrate. In side-blown powder delivery conguration, it is not possible to achieve the centpercent overlap of the diameters due to geometrical constraints [33]. The maximum powder catchment efciency
derived considering the maximum overlap region of powder stream
and laser beam on the substrate for our present conguration is
65%. Since various nozzle stand-off distances between the nozzle tip
and substrate resulted in different powder and laser beam diameters,
the catchment efciency varies accordingly. Fig. 10 shows the variation
of Powder catchment efciency at different nozzle stand-off distance
between nozzle tip and substrate during LRM on vertical surfaces. It is
observed that catchment efciency increases as the stand-off distance
is increased up to certain value and then it falls. The maximum

Fig. 7. Vertical transverse cross section of track as per experimental model with laser power of 800 W and scan speed of 200 mm/min at various powder feed rates: (a) 6 g/min,
(b) 10 g/min, and (c) 14 g/min.

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C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

Fig. 8. Comparison of theoretically calculated and experimentally observed shift of

deposit's peak at various scan speed for different deposit heights.

Fig. 10. Powder catchment efciency as a function of stand-off distance between nozzle tip and substrate during LRM on vertical surfaces.

catchment efciency is obtained where there is maximum overlapping

region of powder stream and laser beam. For our conguration, the
maximum catchment efciency is obtained at the stand-off distance
between 15 mm to 18 mm.

As shown in Fig. 11, Overlap index is dened as the ratio of the

centre distance between the two successive overlap tracks to the single
track width, while waviness factor is dened as the ratio of the height
to be removed to get at surface to total height deposited. Mathematically,

5.4. Surface nish of deposited overlapped tracks

overlap index i

The surface characteristics of the track geometry on vertical substrate play an important role as it denes the manufacturing tolerance
and post processing of the deposits. Generally, multi-layer overlapped
tracks are used for the fabrication of any engineering components on
the surfaces. Higher waviness and poor surface roughness means less
effective deposition to achieve on the plane surface. The LRM surfaces
have two distinct characteristics surface roughness and surface waviness. The surface roughness is primarily due to semi-molten powder
particles adhered on the deposit, while overlapping parameter governs
the surface waviness to a great extent.

st
 100
W

waviness factor j

h max h min
:
h max

21

22

A number of overlapped track samples were made at various overlap

index. Fig. 12 presents the variation in waviness factor at different overlap index. It can be seen that the waviness factor decreases as the overlap index is increased. For overlap index greater than 70%, layer height
goes on increasing in subsequent overlapping track and it leads to
inter-run porosity due to a lack of fusion zone along the track. The

Fig. 9. Processing parameters for LRM on vertical surfaces.

C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

27

Fig. 13. Laser vertical surface cladding on (a) internal and (b) external surface of tubular
geometry.

Fig. 11. Schematic diagram for various parameters for overlapped deposition.

surface nish was also measured in the samples across and along the
track. The surface nish was found to be 1214 m Ra and 912 m Ra
across and along the track, respectively. A similar trend is observed for
surface nish along and across the tracks for LRM on horizontal surfaces
[3335]. The surface nish during LRM on horizontal surfaces with the

same process parameters and setup conguration was experimentally

found to be in the range of 1225 m Ra. Thus, the surface nish in
LRM on vertical surfaces was found to be better than that of horizontal
surfaces for the same processing parameters. It is because the semi molten particles sprayed towards molten pool fall down due to gravity and
it leads to reduced tendency of the semi-molten powder particles adhering to the surface.
6. Conclusions

Fig. 12. Variation in waviness factor at different overlap index.

A laser processing head for rapid manufacturing on vertical surfaces

was developed and augmented with work-station. It was used successfully for the rapid manufacturing on vertical surfaces on various tubular
geometries. Fig. 13(a) and (b) present the LRM carried out on the external and internal surface of tubular geometry in vertical conguration at
authors' laboratory. The processing zone for LRM on vertical surface
with the threshold value of laser energy and powder fed, both per
unit length of the deposit for the continuous tracks were found to be
~96 J/mm and ~0.006 g/mm respectively. The trend and values were
found to be closer to earlier work published for laser rapid manufacturing in horizontal conguration. Analytical and experimental analysis of
the track cross-section at various processing parameters indicate that
there is a downward shift of deposit and its peak, due to gravity during
laser rapid manufacturing on vertical surfaces. There was little downward
shift of deposit's peak for higher scan speeds (e.g. v > 400 mm/min),
while it was distinctly observed with asymmetric downward bulging
of deposit at lower scan speeds (v b 200 mm/min). The maximum
powder catchment efciency was experimentally found to be 38% for

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C.P. Paul et al. / Surface & Coatings Technology 224 (2013) 1828

stand-off distance between 15 mm to 18 mm with the present laser

head and conguration. The surface waviness decreases as the overlap
index increases. The surface nish during LRM in vertical conguration
was better than that of horizontal conguration for the same setup and
processing parameters.
Acknowledgement
The authors acknowledge the technical support of Mr. P Bhargava,
Mr. C H Premsingh and Mr. Deepjwalit Viashnav during the study.
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