Laser rapid prototyping technology is a new manufacturing technology, which integrates advanced technologies such as CAD, cam, CNC, laser, precision servo drive and new materials. Compared with the traditional manufacturing direction, the prototype has higher reproducibility and interchangeability; The manufacturing process has nothing to do with the assembly shape of the manufacturing prototype, and realizes a high degree of technology integration and design and manufacturing integration. Next, this paper will introduce the new development and application of laser rapid prototyping technology.
The recently developed laser rapid prototyping technology mainly includes: stereo light modeling technology, selective laser sintering technology; Laser cladding forming technology; Laser proximity technology; Laser laminated sheet manufacturing technology; Laser induced thermal stress forming technology and three-dimensional printing technology.
1. Stereolithography Technology
Stereolithography technology is also known as light curing rapid prototyping technology. Its principle is that the computer controls the laser beam to scan point by point. The thin layer of resin in the scanned area will produce light polymerization reaction and cure, forming a thin layer on the part. At this time, the workbench moves down a layer thickness distance, so that the cured resin surface is coated with a new layer of liquid resin, and the next layer of scanning processing is carried out, and the processing operations are repeated until the whole prototype manufacturing is finally completed.
The advantages of this forming technology are: because there is no thermal diffusion, and the chain reaction can be well controlled, which can ensure that the polymerization reaction does not occur outside the laser point, so the processing accuracy is high, the surface quality is good, and colleagues can also manufacture parts with complex and fine shapes, which is high efficiency.
2. Selective laser sintering technology
The selective laser sintering technology is similar to the stereolithography technology, except that the liquid photopolymer is replaced by powder raw materials, and acts on the powder materials with a certain scanning speed and energy.
The main advantages of this forming technology are: a wide selection of raw materials, easy cleaning of excess materials, and a wide range of applications. It is applicable to the manufacture of prototypes and functional parts.
3. Laser cladding forming technology
Laser cladding forming technology is mainly to numerically control the workbench, and use laser beam to realize the scanning of powder and the processing of cladding, so as to produce the required shape. The accuracy and strength of formed parts will be affected by many factors, such as the way of parts slicing, the thickness of laser cladding layer, laser output power and so on.
The main advantage of this forming technology is that laser cladding can make very dense metal parts, and its strength can reach or even exceed the parts produced by conventional casting or forging methods, so it has a good application prospect.
4. Laser laminated sheet manufacturing technology
Laser laminated sheet manufacturing technology is a new rapid prototyping technology commonly used to make molds. The principle is to use high-power laser beam to cut the metal sheet, then stack the multi-layer sheet, and gradually change its shape, and finally obtain the three-dimensional geometry of the required prototype.
The main advantages of this forming method are: its cost is about 1/2 less than that of the traditional method, and the production cycle is greatly shortened. It is used to make composite mold, thin material mold, progressive mold, etc., and the economic benefit is also very significant.