Investigation on Critical Size of Titanium Wire for High-Frequency Induction Heating-Based Directed Energy Deposition Process
摘要
High-frequency induction heating (HFIH) is emerging as a clean and environmentally friendly candidate for rapidly melting the metallic wire to develop a directed energy deposition (DED) process. However, the development of a novel high-frequency induction heating-based directed energy deposition (HFIH-DED) process is in the early stage, where the limiting size of the wire is the main concern over a narrow domain of process parameters. This study discloses the critical size for melting titanium wire at 375 A coil current, 298 kHz frequency and 250 mm/min wire feed rate (WFR) to develop the process. A 2D axisymmetric finite element (FE) model is developed, integrating wire feed velocity to investigate the time required to reach the melting temperature of the Ti-6Al-4 V wire. The power transfer efficiency of the HFIH-DED process reaches to a maximum point with an increase in the wire diameter. Here, the critical diameter for melting the wire is 4 mm. An experimental setup is developed for an HFIH-DED process to deposit a single bead using investigated wire critical size with an optimized multi-loop and multi-turn induction coil. The metal transfer rate is enhanced by 50% when the coil current increases from 375 to 400 A and WFR from 250 to 325 mm/min. The high-speed camera image shows the mode of metal transfer is globular with a transfer frequency of 1 Hz. High-magnification SEM micrographs confirm a lamellar α + β structure growing along heat dissipation. XRD analysis verifies the β phase in the HFIH-DED sample with [110] and [200] peaks. The current study endeavors a process window where the HFIH-DED can deposit a high-melting-point material.