Deposition simulation for an automated cold spray additive manufacturing process

Cold spray is becoming increasingly relevant in the context of additive manufacturing of functional components. Especially for the production of complex geometries and large-format component dimensions, cold spray offers substantial advantages over other thermal spray processes. The subject of current research work is to improve the production accuracy and surface quality of components by developing adaptive tool path planning, which forms the basis for the robot programming. The tool path planning is designed that problems such as inconsistent deposition and surface defects are minimized through simulation and systematic control of the material deposition. The aim is to effectively counteract deviations from the desired component geometry and to realize near-net-shape component production. An effect mechanism-based and workpiece-centered modeling approach is used, which takes into account the specific component requirements for the path planning. To this purpose, mathematical, physical as well as data-based models are developed to predict the material deposition with high precision. These models are validated by experimental tests with the materials pure copper and the steel alloy 316L. The influence of the tool orientation and the application strategy on the material integrity and the geometric properties of the deposition are investigated.