US-20260124693-A1 - Deliberate Defect Introduction in Additive Manufacturing

Abstract

Systems and methods for deliberate defect introduction in additive manufacturing are disclosed. In one embodiment, a robotic additive manufacturing system includes an additive manufacturing robot, the additive manufacturing robot including a robotic arm, a welder system mounted to the robotic arm and including a welding tip configured to deposit a consumable electrode wire onto an additively-manufactured article, a signals data storage system configured to receive from the welder system one or more signals indicative of a voltage and a current and to store the signals as a time series, a defect introduction system configured to receive an interrupt signal and to trigger a release mechanism configured to disrupt shielding gas around the welding tip based upon the interrupt signal, and a clock configured to provide a clock signal to the signals data storage system and the defect introduction system.

Inventors

• David Leiphon
• Scott Stanfield
• Oojas Salunke
• Erik Richman
• Noah Giles
• Scott Mungo

Assignees

• Relativity Space, Inc.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20251104

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A robotic additive manufacturing system comprising: an additive manufacturing robot, the additive manufacturing robot comprising: a robotic arm; a welder system mounted to the robotic arm and comprising a welding tip configured to deposit a consumable electrode wire onto an additively-manufactured article; a signals data storage system configured to receive from the welder system one or more signals indicative of a voltage and a current and to store the signals as a time series; a defect introduction system configured to receive an interrupt signal and to trigger a release mechanism configured to disrupt shielding gas around the welding tip based upon the interrupt signal; and a clock configured to provide a clock signal to the signals data storage system and the defect introduction system.
2. 2 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein: the defect introduction system further comprises an air compressor and a nozzle; the release mechanism comprises at least one pneumatic solenoid; the air compressor is configured to provide compressed air through the solenoid and to the nozzle; the release system is configured to be triggered based upon the interrupt signal to open a path for the compressed air to the nozzle; and the nozzle is positioned near the welding tip.
3. 3 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 2 , wherein the release system comprises two pneumatic solenoids that are configured to be independently and alternately actuated.
4. 4 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 2 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to receive parameters indicating a position of the nozzle.
5. 5 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to inject contaminants into the shielding gas.
6. 6 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to determine and apply offsets to the interrupt signal when triggering the release mechanism.
7. 7 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein the signals data storage system includes an oscilloscope.
8. 8 . The robotic additive manufacturing system of claim 1 , wherein: the defect introduction system further comprises at least one liquid tank and a nozzle and is configured to release liquid from the at least one liquid tank through the nozzle based upon the interrupt signal.
9. 9 . A method for introducing defects during an additive manufacturing process, the method comprising: capturing a data signal comprising voltage and current information while a welding system having a welding tip performs a wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process to deposit metal onto an article; capturing frames of video of the welding system while it performs the WAAM process; associating timestamps with the voltage and current information and with frames of video as they are being captured; receiving an interrupt signal at a defect introduction system configured to trigger a release mechanism that disrupts shielding gas around the welding tip; triggering the release mechanism over a time duration based on the interrupt signal; correlating at least some voltage and current information to at least some of the frames of video using the timestamps at times where the frames of video show irregularities in the WAAM process.
10. 10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising: providing voltage and current information to train a machine learning model to determine whether defects occur based on the voltage and current information.
11. 11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the release mechanism comprises at least one pneumatic solenoid; and where the defect introduction system further comprises an air compressor configured to provide compressed air through the solenoid and to the nozzle.
12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , where the release system comprises two pneumatic solenoids in parallel that are configured to be independently and alternately actuated.
13. 13 . A method for introducing defects during an additive manufacturing process, the method comprising: capturing a data signal comprising information about an additive manufacturing process while an additive manufacturing system deposits an additive feedstock onto an article being additively manufactured; associating timestamps with the information about the additive manufacturing process as it is being captured; receiving an interrupt signal at a defect introduction system configured to trigger a mechanism that disrupts the additive manufacturing process; associating at least one timestamp with the interrupt signal; correlating at least some of the information about the additive manufacturing process to the interrupt signal using the timestamps.
14. 14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the additive feedstock being deposited is a cold spray powder.
15. 15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the additive feedstock being deposited is a consumable electrode wire.
16. 16 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to disrupt the additive manufacturing process by disrupting a shielding gas around the additive feedstock being deposited.
17. 17 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to disrupt the additive manufacturing process by injecting a contaminant into a shielding gas around the additive feedstock being deposited.
18. 18 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to disrupt the additive manufacturing process by applying a contaminant to the additive feedstock being deposited.
19. 19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the defect introduction system is configured to disrupt the additive manufacturing process by applying a contaminant to the article being additively manufactured.
20. 20 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the data signal comprises at least one of voltage or current information.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The current application claims the benefit of and priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/716,673 entitled “Deliberate Defect Introduction in Additive Manufacturing” filed Nov. 5, 2024. The disclosure of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/716,673 is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to additive manufacturing systems, and more specifically to intentionally introducing defects while capturing contextual data during additive manufacturing of an article. BACKGROUND Additive manufacturing is a process by which an article is manufactured by adding one layer of material on top of another in a sequence that results in a complete article being built. This method of manufacturing is commonly referred to as three dimensional or 3D printing and can be performed with different materials, including plastic and metal. Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a production process used to 3D print or repair metal articles using a metal wire feedstock and an electric arc. WAAM typically involves using an energy source to create an electric arc that forms a weld pool, and feeding a metal wire into the weld pool by way of a printing head, such as a conventional or modified welding gun. An electric current carried by the feed wire is used to create the electric arc that forms the weld pool. The printing head and subsequently the weld pool can be moved. As the printing head and the welding pool moves, the trailing edge of the pool cools and solidifies. Through this process of gradually moving the printing head along a path, a fully solidified article is formed. The process by which material is deposited can be controlled by the use of shielding gas around the feeding material. The shielding gas can help to make a better weld pool for an overall better part. The shielding gas can protect the weld pool from reactive gases and moisture. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Systems and methods for deliberate defect introduction in additive manufacturing are disclosed. In one embodiment, a robotic additive manufacturing system includes an additive manufacturing robot, the additive manufacturing robot including a robotic arm, a welder system mounted to the robotic arm and including a welding tip configured to deposit a consumable electrode wire onto an additively-manufactured article, a signals data storage system configured to receive from the welder system one or more signals indicative of a voltage and a current and to store the signals as a time series, a defect introduction system configured to receive an interrupt signal and to trigger a release mechanism configured to disrupt shielding gas around the welding tip based upon the interrupt signal, and a clock configured to provide a clock signal to the signals data storage system and the defect introduction system. In additional embodiments of the invention, the defect introduction system also includes an air compressor and a nozzle, the release mechanism includes at least one pneumatic solenoid, the air compressor is configured to provide compressed air through the solenoid and to the nozzle, the release system is configured to be triggered based upon the interrupt signal to open a path for the compressed air to the nozzle, and the nozzle is positioned near the welding tip. In more embodiments of the invention, the release system comprises two pneumatic solenoids that are configured to be independently and alternately actuated. In still more embodiments of the invention, the at least one pneumatic solenoid is configured to be electrically driven closed. In even more embodiments of the invention, the defect introduction system is configured to receive parameters indicating a position of the nozzle. In further embodiments of the invention, the defect introduction system is configured to inject contaminants into the shielding gas. In still further embodiments of the invention, the defect introduction system is configured to determine and apply offsets to the interrupt signal when triggering the release mechanism. In additional embodiments of the invention, the defect introduction system is configured to receive data from a sensor to determine offsets. In more embodiments of the invention, the signals data storage system includes an oscilloscope. In still more embodiments of the invention, the defect introduction system also includes at least one liquid tank and a nozzle and is configured to release liquid from the at least one liquid tank through the nozzle based upon the interrupt signal. In even more embodiments of the invention, a method for introducing defects during an additive manufacturing process includes capturing a data signal including voltage and current information while a welding system having a welding tip performs a wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process to deposit metal onto an article, c