Method, use and apparatus for producing a single-crystalline work piece

1. A method for producing or repairing a three-dimensional metallic work piece having a substantially single crystalline microstructure, the method comprising the following steps:

providing at least one substantially single-crystalline substrate;

depositing a first layer of a metallic raw material powder onto the substrate; and

irradiating selected areas of the deposited raw material powder layer with an electromagnetic or particle radiation beam in a site selective manner in accordance with an irradiation pattern which corresponds to a geometry of at least part of a layer of the three-dimensional work piece to be produced,

wherein

the irradiation is controlled so as to produce a metallurgical bond between the substrate and the raw material powder layer deposited thereon, and the irradiation is controlled so that the following applies:

a remelting rate of a remelting within a plane of a presently irradiated raw material powder layer Rx fulfils the following condition: Rx>0.3, with Rx=((W−dy)/W), W being a melt pool width and dy being a distance between adjacent irradiation sites of the raw material powder layer, wherein the distance dy is defined by adjacent scan vectors along which respective irradiation sites are arranged, and wherein the remelting results from radiation beam diameters of the radiation beam overlapping each other when being moved along the adjacent scan vectors.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein after completing irradiation of the first raw material powder layer, multiple sequences of depositing and irradiating subsequent raw material powder layers are performed, to successively build up the work piece along a build axis.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a remelting rate along the build axis Rz fulfils the following condition: Rz>0.3, with Rz=((D−lz)/D), lz being the layer thickness of the presently irradiated raw material powder layer and D being a melt pool depth occurring as a result of the irradiation.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising the step of:

adjusting the crystal orientation of the single-crystalline substrate so as to correspond to the build axis.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of:

adjusting a crystal orientation of the single-crystalline substrate and a grain growth direction in the layer of the three-dimensional work piece occurring upon irradiating said layer so as to correspond to one another.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the following parameters is used for controlling the irradiation:

a beam size, a defocusing state and/or a beam profile of the electromagnetic or particle radiation beam,

an exposure time of the selected areas of a deposited raw material powder to the electromagnetic or particle radiation beam,

the irradiation pattern,

a speed of moving an irradiation site across a deposited raw material powder layer, and

an energy input of the electromagnetic or particle radiation beam into the selected areas of the raw material powder layer applied onto the substrate.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the at least one parameter is constant between at least some of the subsequent raw material powder layers.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the irradiation is controlled in dependence on the crystallization behavior of the raw material powder in such a manner that single-crystalline layers of the three-dimensional work piece are produced.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the substrate fulfils at least one of the following conditions:

the substrate covers at least 0.1%, at least 10%, at least 25%, at least 50%, at least 75% or 100% of a build area that is available for depositing raw material powder layer thereon in order to produce the work piece;

the substrate is configured as a substantially planar member and, for example, defines a rectangular plane;

a thickness of the substrate along the build axis is not more than 1000 mm, not more than 200 mm, not more than 100 mm, not more than 50 mm or not more than 10 mm,

the substrate is a single crystal work piece which, for example, needs to be repaired.

10. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of separating the produced work piece from the substrate and, optionally, re-using the substrate for the production of a further work piece.

11. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of pre-heating a deposited raw material powder layer prior to irradiating it for producing a work piece layer.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a uni-directional irradiation pattern or a multi-directional irradiation pattern is used.

13. Apparatus for producing or repairing a three-dimensional metallic work piece having a substantially single crystalline microstructure, the apparatus comprising:

at least one substantially single-crystalline substrate;

a powder application device adapted to depositing a first layer of a metallic raw material powder onto the substrate; and

an irradiation device adapted to irradiating selected areas of the deposited raw material powder layer with an electromagnetic or particle radiation beam in a site selective manner in accordance with an irradiation pattern which corresponds to a geometry of a layer of the three-dimensional work piece to be produced, and

a control unit adapted to controlling the irradiation device so as to produce a metallurgical bond between the substrate and the raw material powder layer deposited thereon, and the control unit controlling the irradiation device so that the following applies:

a remelting rate of a remelting within a plane of a presently irradiated raw material powder layer Rx fulfils the following condition: Rx>0.3, with Rx=((W−dy)/W), W being a melt pool width and dy being a distance between adjacent irradiation sites of the raw material powder layer, wherein the distance dy is defined by adjacent scan vectors along which respective irradiation sites are arranged, wherein the remelting results from radiation beam diameters of the radiation beam overlapping each other when being moved along the adjacent scan vectors.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein a remelting rate along the build axis Rz fulfils the following condition:

Rz>0.3 with Rz=((D−lz)/D), lz being the layer thickness of the presently irradiated raw material powder layer and D being a melt pool depth occurring as a result of the irradiation.