Method and device for implementing laser shock peening or warm laser shock peening during selective laser melting

1. A method for manufacturing an object comprising the steps of:

forming layers by adding successive layers of powder material to form the object by selective laser melting (SLM) of the powder material to form solidified material;

providing a multilayered solid state confining layer to the solidified material; and

inducing plastic deformation and residual stress by a laser beam into the solidified material of the successive layers after the step of providing, to improve mechanical properties and a fatigue resistance of the object.

2. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the step of inducing the plastic deformation and the residual stress include a Laser Shock Peening (LSP) step or a Warm Laser Shock Peening (WLSP) step.

3. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the step of forming the layers further includes a step of treating the successive layers or portions of the successive layers with multiple lasers or LSP or WLSP treatments.

4. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein a same laser or different lasers are used for the SLM and the LSP or WLSP steps.

5. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein a same scanning head or different scanning heads are used for the SLM and the LSP or WLSP steps.

6. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein for guiding of the laser beam used for the LSP or WLSP step a horizontal 2-axes motion is used.

7. The method as defined in claim 2 , wherein for guiding of the laser beam used for the LSP or WLSP step a tilting mirror is used.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

heat treating the successive layers selectively.

9. The method as defined in claim 8 , wherein the heat treating is performed by at least one of a laser, an infrared lamp, and a substrate preheating.

10. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the step of providing a multilayered solid state confining layer further includes:

placing the multilayered solid state confining layer including a confining layer and an ablative layer over a portion of the solidified material to increase a stress wave and avoid material ablation.

11. The method as defined in claim 10 , wherein the ablative layer is made of an ablative opaque layer material.

12. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the step of providing a multilayered solid state confining layer further includes:

applying the multilayered solid state confining layer that is transparent to the laser beam to maximize a pressure of a shock wave and preventing the shock wave from rapidly expanding from a surface of the material, thus increasing a depth of shockwave penetration.

13. A system to carry out a selective laser melting (SLM) process, the system comprising:

a first laser;

a scanning head;

a powder deposition system including fresh powder;

a platform on which a part is built by the SLM process realized by the first laser;

a second laser;

a solid state confining layer transparent to laser, the solid state confining layer including two layers; and

an ablative layer for applying a laser shock peening (LSP) step to the part.

14. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the ablative layer is a liquid layer or a solid layer.

15. The system as defined in claim 13 , further comprising:

a heating unit to heat the part.

16. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein at least one of the layers of the solid state confining layer is an exchangeable consumable.

17. The system as defined in claim 16 , wherein the exchangeable layer is a top part of the ablative layer.

18. The system as defined in claim 13 , wherein the first laser and the second laser are the same laser working at a continuous mode for the selective laser melting (SLM) and at a pulse mode for the laser shock peening (LSP).