阅读说明：本技术 用于处理部件中的内部缺陷的方法 (Method for processing internal defects in a component ) 是由 雨果·西斯塔赫 罗曼利克·让-玛丽·皮埃特 于 2020-03-25 设计创作，主要内容包括：公开了一种用于处理由材料制成的部件(1)中的内部缺陷(10)的方法,该方法包括：a)检测并定位所述部件中的所述内部缺陷(10)；b)在所述部件内限定至少一个至少部分地包括所述缺陷的目标体积(4)；c)对于每个目标体积(4),利用至少两个连续的并会聚在所述目标体积中的光束(2)同时照射所述目标体积,由此获得处理区域。由每个光束施加到所述目标体积的能量小于用于烧结所述材料的阈值能量,并且,由每个光束施加到所述目标体积的能量的总和大于或等于对应于用于烧结或熔化材料的阈值能量的转变阈值能量；所述部件的所述材料对于所述光束是部分透明的。(A method for treating an internal defect (10) in a component (1) made of a material is disclosed, the method comprising: a) detecting and locating the internal defect (10) in the component; b) defining at least one target volume (4) within the component at least partially including the defect; c) for each target volume (4), the target volume is simultaneously irradiated with at least two light beams (2) that are consecutive and converging in the target volume, thereby obtaining a treatment area. The energy applied to the target volume by each beam is less than a threshold energy for sintering the material, and the sum of the energy applied to the target volume by each beam is greater than or equal to a transition threshold energy corresponding to a threshold energy for sintering or melting the material; the material of the component is partially transparent to the light beam.)

1. Method for treating an internal defect (10) in a component (1) made of a material, the method comprising the steps of:

a) detecting and locating the internal defect (10) in the component;

b) defining within said component at least one target volume (4; 4');

c) for each target volume (4; 4') illuminating said target volume simultaneously with at least two light beams (2) that are consecutive and converging in said target volume, thereby obtaining a treatment area;

wherein the energy applied to the target volume by each beam is less than a threshold energy for sintering the material and the sum of the energies applied to the target volume by each beam is greater than or equal to a transition threshold energy corresponding to a threshold energy for sintering the material when selective sintering of the material in the target volume is desired or to a threshold energy for melting the material when selective melting of the material in the target volume is desired,

and wherein the material of said member is partially transparent to at least two of said beams.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step b) defines a plurality of target volumes, which are simultaneously illuminated in step c).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step b) defines a plurality of target volumes, which are sequentially illuminated in step c).

4. Method according to claim 1, wherein step b) comprises defining a characteristic target volume (4) inside the component, said characteristic target volume completely comprising the defect (10).

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising, after step c), a step of controlling the treatment area to check whether the initial defect has disappeared, the controlling step comprising: detecting all new internal defects and, in case a new internal defect is detected in the processing area, locating said new internal defect and repeating steps b) and c).

6. The method of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the detection of internal defects is performed by a non-destructive technique.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein in step c) at least two of the beams are focused in the target volume.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein at least two of the beams converge at their focal points.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein in step c) at least two of the light beams have the same surface energy.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the number of at least two of the beams is 3.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein at least two of said light beams are energy beams having the same properties and are selected from the group consisting of laser beams, microwave beams, UV beams and IR beams.

12. The method of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the maximum dimension of each target volume is between 10 μ ι η and 1 mm.

Technical Field

The invention relates to a method for processing a defect in a component, enabling the defect to be repaired.

Background

During the manufacture of the part, internal defects (porosity, lack of melting, cracks, etc.) may occur in the part, whether the part is manufactured by standard methods, such as casting, or by newer methods, such as additive manufacturing on a powder bed.

However, the presence of such internal defects may be unacceptable in certain fields, for example, particularly in aeronautical engineering, since it reduces fatigue resistance and leads to earlier than expected failure of the component. Such components are discarded if not repaired.

The presence of such internal defects is typically detected by non-destructive testing (by X-ray, tomography, microstomoscanning, etc.) of the component. These defects can also be detected during the manufacture of the component by means of process control during manufacture, for example, microstomoscanning, X-ray application during manufacture, monitoring of the weld puddle, etc. For example, laser melting on a powder bed, potential defects after fabrication can be tracked by observing the melt pool during fabrication.

The object of the invention is in particular to correct such internal defects at the core of the component.

Disclosure of Invention

To this end, the invention proposes a method for treating internal defects in a component made of a material, comprising the following steps:

a) detecting and locating the internal defect in the component;

b) defining at least one target volume within the component that at least partially includes the defect;

c) for each target volume, simultaneously illuminating said target volume with at least two light beams which are consecutive and converging in said target volume, thereby obtaining a treatment area;

wherein the energy applied to the target volume by each beam is less than a threshold energy for sintering the material and the sum of the energies applied to the target volume by each beam is greater than or equal to a transition threshold energy corresponding to a threshold energy for sintering the material when selective sintering of the material in the target volume is desired or to a threshold energy for melting the material when selective melting of the material in the target volume is desired,

and wherein the material of the component is partially transparent to the at least two beams.

According to a first possible implementation, step b) defines a plurality of target volumes, which are illuminated simultaneously in step c).

According to a second possible implementation, step b) defines a plurality of target volumes, which are illuminated in sequence in step c).

According to one possible implementation, step b) comprises defining a characteristic target volume inside said component, said characteristic target volume completely comprising said defect.

According to one embodiment of the invention, after step c), the method further comprises a step of controlling the processing area to be able to check whether the initial defect has disappeared, the controlling step comprising: detecting all new internal defects and, in case a new internal defect is detected in the processing area, locating said new internal defect and repeating steps b) and c).

Advantageously, the detection of internal defects is performed by a non-destructive technique. For example, it may be a so-called NDT (for "non-destructive inspection"), such as tomography, microtomography, or X-ray.

Preferably, in step c), the at least two beams are focused in the target volume.

Preferably, the at least two beams converge at their focal points.

Advantageously, in step c), the at least two light beams have the same surface energy.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the number of said at least two light beams is 3.

Preferably, the at least two light beams are energy beams having the same properties and are selected from the group consisting of laser beams, microwave beams, UV beams and IR beams.

According to the method of the invention, defects with a maximum size that can be between 10 μm and 500 μm can be treated. Preferably, the maximum dimension of each target volume is between 10 μm and 1 mm. By increasing the target volume relative to the defect to be treated, this makes it possible to melt or sinter the region of the area located around the defect, thereby homogenizing the material in this region. For example, if a void type defect is remelted by remelting an enlarged volume containing the defect, and since the remelting is performed without adding material, this allows the porosity to be "reduced" in several small pores throughout the remelted volume.

In the present disclosure, the expression "comprised between … and …" must be understood as including limitations.

Thanks to the invention, three-dimensional melting or sintering can be performed in a target volume within the volume of the component. Thus, internal and disposable defects of the component, which are unacceptable and which would normally lead to rejection of the component, can be repaired or easily limited in this way without the need for external addition of material.

Drawings

The invention will be better understood and other details, features and advantages thereof will appear, when the following description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, given as a non-limiting example, in which:

figures 1a to 1c show the steps of a first embodiment of the treatment method according to the invention;

figures 2a to 2d show the steps of a second embodiment of the treatment method according to the invention.

Detailed Description

According to the invention, at least two beams, preferably three beams, are used in order to simultaneously irradiate the target volume of the damaged component in order to treat (here repair) the internal defect.

The light beam is continuous.

The part to be treated may be made of a metallic material (metal or alloy), ceramic or polymer.

The type of beam to be used is selected according to the energy that has to be deposited in the target volume, so that the material of the target volume melts or sinters, so that the defects disappear. Thus, it depends on the material, but also on whether sintering or melting of the material is desired. If it is desired to obtain sintering of the material, when each beam simultaneously irradiates the target volume by converging on the latter, the sum of the energies of each beam deposited in the target volume must be greater than or equal to the threshold energy required for sintering. If it is desired to obtain melting of the material, the sum of these energies in the target volume must be greater than or equal to the threshold energy required for melting.

It is also necessary that the material of the component is transparent to the selected beam portion. A material may be considered partially transparent to a light beam when it absorbs at most 60% of the light beam (values of 0% are not included).

Preferably, energy beams of the same nature will be selected.

The beams may be generated by the same energy source, wherein the beams may be split into multiple beams as desired, or may be generated by different energy sources.

For example, a microwave beam pair may be used made of a nickel alloy (e.g., Inconel)^TM718 type) or titanium alloy (e.g., TA6V) to achieve a target volume in the range of 200 to 200 fTotal power between 400W and/or linear energy comprised between 0.01J/mm and 1J/mm. For example, to obtain 200W of power, two 100W beams may be used. Thus, for example, it may be implemented on a compressor blade.

To melt a target volume of a component made of a thermosetting polymer, such as epoxy, for making an acoustic panel or engine cover (e.g., a damping element), a power of between 60 and 100W and/or a surface energy of between 0.001 and 0.05J/mm may be used²UV beam between, or with a power between 20 and 40W and/or a surface energy between 0.005 and 0.025J/mm²In between.

The detection and location of the defect must be sufficiently accurate to be able to determine where to define (in other words where to direct the beam into) one or more target volumes, where the material needs to be melted or sintered, depending on the shape and trajectory of the defect.

The maximum size of the target defect type is preferably between 10 gauge and 500 gauge (including limitations). For example, it may be a slit. Therefore, a detection and positioning accuracy of ± to one, i.e., an accuracy provided by microscopic tomographic scanning, is required.

Advantageously, after step c), which is in fact a step of repairing the defect, there may be a further step of detection which makes it possible to check that the defect has indeed been processed and repaired. If the defect is still present, the defect may be located and step b) may be repeated to define at least one target volume, and step c) to simultaneously irradiate one or more target volumes, etc. until the defect disappears.

Certain defects that fill voids and do not have sufficient material may be difficult to treat in this way and may require repair of multiple steps (i.e., multiple iterations of steps b) and c) in sequence) such that one or more target volumes are moved toward the outer surface of the component and then the defect moved to the surface is repaired by adding material.

Fig. 1a to 1c show a first exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention. In fig. 1a, a defective component 1 having an internal defect 10 is represented by a cube. The energy source of the beam 2 is indicated by the circle 3.

The defect 10 is detected and localized, and then a target volume 4 in the defective component 1 is locally melted or sintered using three beams 2 of the same nature, wherein the target volume 4 completely contains the defect 10. The sum of the energies of the three beams is thus delivered to a precise local area of the component where it is desired to melt the material, since, as is the case with satellite triangulation, a precise point in space can be described by three straight lines. In fig. 1b, the three beams are simultaneously directed to the target volume 4 such that they converge in the target volume 4. The target volume 4 contains an internal defect 10 and is therefore located inside the cube representing the defective part 1. The material contained in the target volume 4 is heated to a molten state and subsequently, when it is cooled, the target volume 5 is given in which the material is melted or sintered, so that a repair component 100 is obtained (fig. 1 c). The treatment area is here a target volume 5 with molten or sintered material.

Fig. 2a to 2d show a second exemplary embodiment of the method according to the invention. In fig. 2a, the defective component 1 comprises an internal defect 10, which is shown larger than the internal defect shown in fig. 1 a. The defined first target volume 4 comprises a part of the defect 10 and is processed by simultaneously directing three beams 2 converging in the first target volume 4 (fig. 2 b). When the material of the target volume 4 is melted or sintered to become the melted or sintered target volume 5, the defect parts contained in the first target volume will disappear. Another portion of the defect 10 is then processed by defining a second target volume 4' juxtaposed to the first target volume 4 (and the melted or sintered target volume 5). The three light beams 2 are directed in the second target volume 4 'such that the three light beams converge in the second target volume 4' (fig. 2 c). After processing, the processed area of the component comprises two target volumes 5 with sintered or melted material, and a repaired component 100 may be obtained (fig. 2 d).

Of course, the energy sources of the beams are arranged at a sufficient distance from each other to be able to ensure that the desired area is accurately treated.

According to a preferred implementation of the invention, each of the three beams is configured such that the energy applied to the target volume is equal to 1/3 of the energy required to melt or sinter the material contained in the target volume 4 or 4'. Thus, the material contained in the target volume can only be melted or sintered if the three beams in the target volume are focused simultaneously, thus preventing any undesired melting or sintering if the beams are not positioned correctly.

The method according to the present invention has been used, for example, for repairing a polymer resin part including an internal defect having a size of 250 μm × 100 μm × 50 μm by directing three UV beams onto the defect at a speed of 2mm/s, wherein each beam has a power of 30W (or a total power of 90W) and a beam diameter at a convergence point of 100 μm.