Directed energy deposition powder stream modeling using a Gaussian beam ray representation

Abstract: The powder stream from a side feed nozzle, or part of the powder stream in some coaxial nozzles, in a directed energy deposition via powder feeding (DED-PF) machine, can be modeled using a particle velocity field that has a constant downward component and a linearly increasing outward component, in proportion to the powder stream's center line distance. However, when the powder stream is subject to a force field, it was found that the shape of the powder concentration function close to the center of the powder stream diverges considerably at high degrees of focusing. This discrepancy is reduced by modeling the powder stream based on the ray representation of a Gaussian beam. Experimental results from high-speed camera particle tracking and numerically extrapolating the trajectories to the nozzle exit suggests that the statistics of the powder stream correspond to this model. A novel method to compute the particle concentration along the stream using an optical system analog, with the focusing force field modeled as the transfer matrix of a graded refractive index (GRIN) lens, is also demonstrated. This method is orders of magnitude faster than the corresponding Lagrangian simulation.