Modeling the influence of injection parameters on powder efficiency in laser cladding

For lateral powder injection, adjustments of defocusing distance, powder feeding angle, and molten pool width are set as input variables, and the powder transport vector, powder outflow position vector, and the injection offset vector are determined. The powder transport model involving above adjustment parameters is constructed based on operation of such vectors, which have been verified in experiments. Then, powder transport ratios of three variables with 13 × 13 × 5 levels are calculated to reflect the effect of injection parameters, which increases with the molten pool width, and maintains a high level as the defocusing distance and powder feeding angle are both adjusted positively (clockwise) or negatively (anti-clockwise). In addition, the powder transport ratio corresponding to an arbitrary combination of injection parameters can be calculated and its process window could be extended to determine a better process combination.