In-process measurement of melt pool cross-sectional geometry and grain orientation in a laser directed energy deposition additive manufacturing process

Understanding the behaviour of melt pool during laser directed energy deposition (L-DED) is essential for the prediction and control of process quality. Previous effort was focused on the observation of melt pool surface characteristics. In this paper, a coaxial imaging system was employed to determine the melt pool cross sectional geometry and to predict solidified grain orientation during a high deposition rate L-DED process. The image processing procedure, deposition track cross-sectional profile prediction and the relationship between melt pool shape and melt pool dynamics, and grain growth orientation were investigated. Results show that sharp melt pool edges can be obtained so that melt pool width can be predicted with an accuracy of more than 95%. The estimation method of melt pool length has an accuracy of 90%. With the experimental melt pool width and depth data, the cross-sectional profiles of deposited track are predicted at an accuracy of 92% and a good match with experimental data is obtained. The melt pool formation is found to be able to allow the prediction of crystal growth directions during solidification.