Clad Height Research Articles

TiBCN-Ceramic-Reinforced Ti-Based Coating by Laser Cladding: Analysis of Processing Conditions and Coating Properties

In this paper, TiBCN-ceramic-reinforced Ti-based coating was fabricated on a Ti6Al4V substrate surface by laser cladding. The correlations between the main processing parameters and the geometrical characteristics of single clad tracks were predicted by linear regression analysis. On this basis, the microstructure, microhardness, corrosion resistance, and wear resistance of the coating and the substrate were investigated. The results showed that the clad height, clad width, clad depth, and dilution rate depended mainly on the laser power, the powder feeding rate, and the scanning speed. TiBCN-ceramic-reinforced Ti-based coating was mainly composed of directional dendritic TiBCN phases, equiaxed TiN phases, needle-like Al3Ti phases, and Ti phases. The microhardness gradually increased from the bottom to the top of the coating. The highest microhardness of coating was 1025 HV, which was three times higher than that of the Ti6Al4V substrate (350 HV). Furthermore, the coating exhibited excellent corrosion resistance and wear resistance. The corrosion potential (Ecorr) reached −1.258 V, and the corrosion density (Icorr) was 4.035 × 10−5 A/cm2, which was one order lower than that of the Ti6Al4V substrate (1.172 × 10−4 A/cm2). The coating wear mass loss was 4.35 mg, which was about two-third of the wear mass loss of the Ti6Al4V substrate (6.71 mg).

Estimation of dilution in laser cladding based on energy balance approach using regression analysis

Laser cladding is a complex manufacturing process involving more than 19 variables related to laser source, workpiece movement, powder-substrate material combinations, clad geometry, powder flow dynamics, shrouding gas flow and so on. Significant research efforts have been directed to analytical-numerical-empirical modelling of laser cladding and also in-process monitoring and control of the process. Still, due to complicated physics there is a dearth of simple analytical model for estimation of dilution in laser cladding. Its experimental measurement requires suitable micrographs of the clad cross section perpendicular to the clad path. This is a time-consuming and destructive way of measurement. Numerical models are time consuming to evaluate and hence not suitable for fast decision making or real-time control implementation. The analytical models available, despite having many approximations, are a little complicated, require fair amount computer programming and often need suitable prior guessing of range of output parameters for adjustment of constant values in the models. This poses some challenges for use and having an intuitive guidance, for a beginner/unskilled operator. Besides, their complexity may erect barrier in the way of their implementation for real time monitoring and control. This work proposes a simple linear regression model, formed based on energy balance approach, to estimate dilution in laser cladding. After fitting to a set of data, within a suitable process parameter-window, for a particular clad-substrate material combination, this model can estimate dilution as a function of input/easily measureable parameters, viz. laser power, scan speed, clad width and clad height. The model fitted well to the experimental data taken from literature.

Vision-based inspection system for cladding height measurement in Direct Energy Deposition (DED)

A vision-based inspection system based on three digital cameras is proposed for measuring the cladding height in the Direct Energy Deposition (DED) process. To improve the accuracy of the cladding height measurements, an image processing technique is applied to remove the undesirable zone from the binary image. Furthermore, since the unit length in the captured images is different to that in the world coordinate framework, a calibration bar method is designed to transform the pixel value to the real size. In the proposed approach, a calibration bar method is employed to compensate for the Field-of-View (FOV) and perspective effects in the trinocular system. An image-processing technique is then employed to isolate the laser nozzle and melt pool in the captured images. Finally, the cladding height is estimated based on the distance between the tip of the laser nozzle and the centroid of the melt pool. The validity of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comparing the inspection results for the cladding height of a horseshoe component with the measurements obtained using a 3-D scanner. The maximum estimation error is found to be just 4.2% Overall, the results confirm that the proposed trinocular vision-based system provides a rapid, convenient and accurate means of determining the cladding height in the DED process.

Modeling of the effect of powder parameters on laser cladding using coaxial nozzle

Results of a mathematical modeling of metal substrate melting and formation of a solid cladding layer by injection of powder particles through a coaxial nozzle during laser cladding are presented. The powder flow is assumed to be a mixture of a metal material (copper) and a gas (argon). The gas-powder flow from the coaxial nozzle is simulated as a mixture of two interpenetrating fluids, taking into account turbulences in the form of a standard k-ε model. Phase transition is simulated by means of a phase field method. Microstructure of metal crystals during solidification has been modeled. The modeling in macro-scale was carried out for different values of average density of the powder material, resulting in influence of the density on the results of the laser cladding, such as width of the heat-affected zone, width of the cladding layer, height of the cladding layer, height and width of non-melted powder. Modeling of a high-precision laser cladding has been carried out with low gas-powder flowrates. Influence of the powder size distribution and its mean density on the cladding shape is revealed. Effect of rotation of the metal flow inside the cladding is observed. For low flowrates (5 mm/s) of the carrier gas a concave shape of the layer of the non-melted powder is obtained. Influence of technological parameters (laser power, velocity and powder feed rate) on the geometry of a single-track laser clad and heat affected zone (HAZ) has been revealed. Simulations have been performed in 2D and 3D showing a good applicability of the 2D approach to describe thermal-fluid processes for the slow-moving cladding head and low gas-powder velocities that are typically used for the precise laser cladding.

Wear Resistance and Morphological Characterization of High-power Laser Clad Coatings on Ti-6Al-4V Alloy

Ti-Si binary coatings were cladded on Ti-6Al-4V alloy surface for improvement morphological orientation, microstructure and surface properties. The coatings were developed at 2.1 kW power, laser scanning speed of 1.2, 1.6 and 2.0 m/min, spot diameter of 3 mm and 0.5 overlap ratio. An optical microscope was used to magnify and analyse the microstructural arrangement and a microhardness indenter used to measure microhardness at 100gf for 10 seconds. The indent spacing was maintained at 100 µm between adjacent indents. The phase content of the coatings was analyzed with XRD technique. The coating wear resistance was tested at 10N force loading for 7 minutes using a TRB tribometer and characterized using SEM. Clad coatings were observed to exhibit refinement in microstructure with an increase in laser scanning speed where transformation occurred from equiaxed grains with localized smaller grains to refined grain structure. The highest degree of refinement was observed at 2.0 m/min scanning speed. It was also found that the microhardness property was improved by 2.44, 2.60 and 2.64 times the microhardness of Ti-6Al-4Vat 342.3 HV0.1. It is understood that high microhardness values favor improved wear resistance behavior. XRD analysis on the coatings revealed presence of Ti5Si3, Ti, Si and TiSi2 phases where Ti and Si are in matrix capacity and Ti5Si3 and TiSi2 present as intermetallic phases. The reported improvement in microhardness was attributed to the presence of Ti5Si3 and TiSi2. The action of the laser scanning speed was found to influence the clad height where an increase in laser scanning speed resulted in a decrease in clad height in the order 685.9, 491.4 and 291.5 µm for 1.2 m/min, 1.6 m/min and 2.0 m/min respectively. Wear test indicated that the coatings displayed an improved wear resistance by evidence of little material removal exhibited, compared to the substrate material which was dilapidated by severe adhesive wear and further aggravated by plastic deformation.

Multi-Objective Optimisation of Laser Deposition of Metal Matrix Composites for Surface Coating Using Principal Component Analysis

Laser deposition is an advanced manufacturing technology capable of enhancing service life of engineering components by hard-facing their functional surfaces. There are quite a number of parameters involved in the process and also desirable output characteristics. These output characteristics are often independently optimised and which may lead to poor outcome for other characteristics, hence the need for multi-objective optimisation of all the output characteristics. In this study, a laser deposition of Ti-6Al-4V wire and tungsten carbide powder was made on a Ti-6Al-4V substrate with a view to achieve a metallurgical bonded metal matrix composite on the substrate. Single clads were deposited with a desire to optimise the composite clad characteristics (height, width and reinforcement fraction) for the purpose of surface coating. Processing parameters (laser power, traverse speed, wire feed rate, powder feed rate) were varied, the experiment was planned using Taguchi method and output characteristics were analysed using principal component analysis approach. The results indicated that the parameters required for optimised clad height, width, and reinforcement fraction necessary for surface coating is laser power of 1800 W, traverse speed of 200 mm/min, wire feed rate 700 mm/min and powder feed rate of 30 g/min. The powder feed rate was found to most significantly contribute 43.99%, followed by traverse speed 39.77%, laser power 15.87% with wire feed rate having the least contribution towards the multi-objective optimisation. Confirmation results showed that clad width and reinforcement fraction were significantly improved by the optimised parameters. The multi-objective optimisation procedure is a useful tool necessary to identify the process factors required to enhance output characteristics in laser processing.

A new physics-based model for laser directed energy deposition (powder-fed additive manufacturing): From single-track to multi-track and multi-layer

A physics-based process model of laser powder-fed additive manufacturing (LPF-AM), a class of directed energy deposition, is established in this paper. The model can perform an efficient prediction of the melt pool dimension, wetting angle, dilution, process heating/cooling rates and clad 3D profiles from single-track to multi-track and multi-layer deposition, and has the potential to be employed for the fast process optimization and controller design. The novelty of the model lies in three fronts: (1) the melt pool geometry variation as the liquid melt pool bead spreading on the solid surface is counted by the wetting angle alternation, in which the dynamic wetting angle is computed based on the Hoffman-Voinov-Tanner law; (2) the heat accumulation effect in the multi-track, multi-layer scanning is compensated by adding the accumulated temperature field to the initial temperature field of the following layers/tracks. The accumulated temperature is calculated by summing up the transient temperature solutions of the prior layers/tracks based on the superposition principle; and (3) the feeding powder distribution is incorporated into the transient thermal field simulation of the multi-layer and multi-track deposition process by analytically coupling the powder mass flows and laser heat flux, in which the powder mass flow is expressed as an equivalent heat flux. Experiments were conducted to validate the built model. The single-track measurements (clad height, clad width, dilution and wetting angle) show that the prediction error of the built model is less than 14%. The multi-track and multi-layer measurements also indicate that the model can perform a high accuracy dimension prediction of the built features. Besides, a sensitivity analysis was conducted based on the built model and the results show that the powder feed rate is the most sensitive parameter that substantially varies the clad height, followed by the process speed, whereas the specific heat has the least sensitivity.

Experimental research and multi-response multi-parameter optimization of laser cladding Fe313

As an advanced additive manufacturing technology, laser cladding has become a research hotspot in the field of material surface modification and green remanufacturing. The quality of the cladding layer directly depends on the choice of process parameters. This paper optimized the process parameters by Taguchi-grey correlation method. The orthogonal experiment of 25 groups was designed by Taguchi method, the cladding width, cladding height and dilution rate were selected as the response targets. Contour plot, surface plot and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for signal to noise ratio (SNR) of the response targets can obtain the influence trend and magnitude of the process parameters on the geometric characteristics, combined with the grey relational theory, three response targets were transformed into single grey relational grade (GRG) value, which was quantified to optimize the process parameters for maximum cladding width, minimum cladding height and proper dilution rate. Then validation experiment was conducted to verify the improvement of the response targets. Finally, it was found that the three response targets were improved as expectation, and the optimized cladding layer has obvious advantages over those of other cladding layers in morphology and microstructure, which verified the feasibility of Taguchi-grey relational method.

Process characterization of powder based laser metal deposition on thin substrates

Powder-based laser metal deposition is a well-established generative manufacturing process in the field of tool and mould building to produce or repair components. Conventionally manufactured tools are often completely constructed of a high-alloyed, hardened-tempered, and expensive tool steel. An alternative way to manufacture tools and moulds is the combination of a cost-efficient, mild steel, and a functional coating. Such specific, locally adapted coating can be generated by laser metal deposition. The functional coating is just located in the area of the interaction zone of the tool. Consequently, costs and resources can be saved. Such coatings are created by positioning multiple individual weld tracks next to and on top of each other in an overlapping manner. It is therefore useful to characterize und optimize the individual weld track. Thermal processing methods, like a laser metal deposition, are always characterized by thermal distortion. The resistance against the thermal distortion of the work piece is decreasing with the reduction of the material thickness. Thus, there is a special process management for the laser based coating of thin-walled parts or tools with a small material thickness needed to reduce thermal distortion. The experimental approach in the present paper is to keep the energy and the mass per unit length constant by varying the laser power, the feed rate, and the powder mass flow. The typical seam parameters (such as width, height and depth, cross-sectional area, and angular distortion) are measured in order to characterize the cladding process, define process limits, and evaluate the process efficiency of an individual weld track. Ways to optimize dilution, angular distortion, and clad height are presented. After the characterization of individual weld tracks, optimized process parameters are deduced from the process window and used to create functional, two-dimensional coatings on thin substrates. Different scanning strategies are compared with each other to reduce processing time and thermal distortion.

Towards additive manufacturing of compressor impellers: 3D modeling of multilayer laser solid freeform fabrication of nickel alloy 625 powder mixed with nano-CeO2 on AISI 4140

Gas turbine blades, turbine shafts and centrifugal compressor impellers are often damaged by erosion and/or corrosion. By laser cladding technique, a coating layer can be deposited on the base material in order to rebuild, repair and improve anti-erosion or anti-corrosion properties of the sensitive machine parts. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite element modeling of the laser solid freeform fabrication (LSFF) process for nickel alloy 625 powder mixed with nano-CeO2 on AISI 4140 steel is extensively studied. Using Comsol Multiphysics software and the finite element method (FEM), the heat transfer equation, moving mesh equation and stress tensor are numerically solved. The dynamic geometry of the molten zone is studied by a 3D moving mesh based on Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) module. Clad shape, temperature distribution and stress fields are obtained. The effects of preheating as well as addition of nano-CeO2 are investigated. Dependence of the clad height on the scanning velocity of the laser is also studied.

Study on direct laser metal deposition

In the current economic situation with worldwide trend for developing new products, the importance of time and cost reduction increases day-by-day. To achieve this goal the man-machine-material interaction should be maximized. Direct laser metal deposition (DLMD) is one of the most famous approaches for this. DLMD is one kind of 3D printing technology (Additive Manufacturing) together with laser cladding process. In DLMD, it is possible to fabricate fully functional metallic parts directly from CAD data, which involves a feeding of metal powders through a nozzle into a high power laser beam and creates a melt pool on the surface of the solid substrate upon which a metallic powder is injected. DLMD process are now acknowledged worldwide and is also known to all by several other names such as Laser metal deposition (LMD), Direct laser deposition (DLD), Laser engineered net shaping (LENS), Direct light fabrication (DLF), Laser deposition welding (LDW) and powder fusion welding (PFW). The role of nozzle in this process is as important as the heart of a human being. There are verity of nozzle configurations namely off-axis, continuous coaxial and discontinuous coaxial powder injection. Comparison of these types towards specific applications revels very interesting observations which are subsequently reproduced in this article. In DLMD, laser beam and powder metals are fed through the nozzle onto a metallic substrate. Then, powder melts by the laser heat and creates a metal pool on the solid substrate by fusion bonding. Once the feedback control sensor gives feedback of completion of deposition of a layer, the laser head, along with the powder delivery nozzle, move up. The whole process is carried out until final near-net-shape of the metal part or component is achieved with a variety of material applicability area and high quality clad track deposition with good mechanical properties. After development of this process in 1995, lot of researchers for several years work on various aspects of high quality deposition with dimensional accuracy such as good clad geometry, clad height, and microstructure study of the mechanical properties. Through this paper on the basis of literature survey an attempt has been made to focus on proper selection of the set up configuration for direct laser metal deposition to fulfill the requirement and helps to achieve high quality deposition.

Characteristics of Fe-, Ni- and Co-based Powder Coatings Fabricated by Laser Metal Deposition without Preheating the base Material

The objective of this work was to select the best material from Fe-, Ni- and Co-based alloy powder for coating, by Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) the filets of a hardened 42CrMoS4 extrusion screw without preheating process. Even though most of the articles recommended preheating the base material as a condition for a crack free coating, the time wasted in the process decrease the productivity and distortions can be also generated in the part. In this work, a comparison of the main characteristics of the coatings done on preheated and non-preheated base material has been made.The relationships between the relevant LMD parameters (feed rate, laser power, and powder feeding rate) and the main geometrical characteristics of a single clad (height, width, dilution, deposition rate, efficiency, etc.) were examined. In addition, different characteristics of overlapped clads in a preheated, non-preheated and a hardened base material have been also analyzed.All the study was made in the Ibarmia ZVH 45/1600 Add+Process hybrid machine with a high power Yb-Fiber laser (3kW) and discrete coaxial LMD head. Coatings with thickness from 1.2 to 0.76 were created without cracks and other defects except in the case of Ni-based coating. The microstructural features of these coatings were studied using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical properties were determined using microhardness measurements and a pin on disk tribometer.

An empirical-statistical model for laser cladding of Ti-6Al-4V powder on Ti-6Al-4V substrate

In this article, Ti-6Al-4V powder alloy was directly deposited on Ti-6Al-4V substrate using laser cladding process. In this process, some key parameters such as laser power (P), laser scanning rate (V) and powder feeding rate (F) play important roles. Using linear regression analysis, this paper develops the empirical-statistical relation between these key parameters and geometrical characteristics of single clad tracks (i.e. clad height, clad width, penetration depth, wetting angle, and dilution) as a combined parameter (PαVβFγ). The results indicated that the clad width linearly depended on PV−1/3 and powder feeding rate had no effect on it. The dilution controlled by a combined parameter as VF−1/2 and laser power was a dispensable factor. However, laser power was the dominant factor for the clad height, penetration depth, and wetting angle so that they were proportional to PV−1F1/4, PVF−1/8, and P3/4V−1F−1/4, respectively. Based on the results of correlation coefficient (R > 0.9) and analysis of residuals, it was confirmed that these empirical-statistical relations were in good agreement with the measured values of single clad tracks. Finally, these relations led to the design of a processing map that can predict the geometrical characteristics of the single clad tracks based on the key parameters.

Numerical and experimental study of laser aided additive manufacturing for melt-pool profile and grain orientation analysis

Laser aided additive manufacturing (LAAM), a blown powder additive manufacturing process, can be widely adopted for surface modification, repair and 3D printing. A robust numerical model was developed to simulate convective fluid flow and balancing of surface tension forces at the air-fluid interface to predict melt-pool free surface curvature and solidified clad dimensions. The free surface physical interface was calculated using the Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) moving mesh approach. Powder deposition efficiency was considered by activating mesh normal velocity at melted regions based on localized powder mass flux intensity from the discrete coaxial powder nozzles. The heat flux equation used for representing the laser heat source considered attenuation effect from the interaction between the powder jets and laser as well as heat sink effects of un-melted powder particles entering the melt-pool. The predicted thermal gradient directions agree well with grain growth orientations obtained from electron backscatter diffraction (ESBD) analysis in three different cross-sectional orientations. Experimental validation of clad width, height and melt-pool depth shows a maximum error of 10% for a wide range of processing parameters which consider the effects of varying laser power, laser scanning speed and powder feeding rate.

Effect of feed rate on laser surface cladding of cold rolled carbon steel

Oil and gas industries require much equipment and tools having extra ordinary hardness, strength, wear and chemical properties. They have been established well that the important manufacturing processes to achieve these properties are laser cladding of special alloys on cheap substrates such as carbon steels. In order to achieve the optimum properties for these industries, controllable dilution between substrate and clad coating should obtained. In this study, the performance of laser cladding is found to be controlled by two important outputs geometry dimensions and microstructure. The geometry dimensions include many features of clad width, clad height, cont act angle, depth of penetration and dilution area. In order to determine the quality of clad coatings, these features were correlated with laser processing parameters such as specific energy. An experimental study has been concentrated on determine the all dimensions and dilution area on cladding Ni- 5 wt% Al mixed powder on a cold rolled low carbon steel. Wide ranges of traverse speeds in the range of 1.5 to 12.5 mm/s were used to produce clad coatings with different dilutions from the substrate. The laser power, laser beam diameter and powder feed rate employed were 1.8 kW, 2.5 mm and 10 g/min respectively; the specific energies used were 58 to 480 J/mm2. Many single or combined features were developed and their values were determined for cladding tracks having different dilutions. It was postulated that the successful cladding process could be described by new developing terms such as effective clad thickness, effective clad dimensions, dilution aspect ratio and effective specific energy. The data obtained could be used effectively to distinguish between cladding and highly alloyed tracks as a function of specific energy and geometry dimensions of the deposit coatings.

Role of process parameters during additive manufacturing by direct metal deposition of Inconel 718

PurposeThe aim of this research is to study the influence of laser additive manufacturing process parameters on the deposit formation characteristics of Inconel 718 superalloy, the main parameters that influence the forming characteristics, the cooling rate and the microstructure were studied.Design/methodology/approachOrthogonal experiment design method was used to obtain different deposit shape and microstructure using different process parameters by multiple layers deposition. The relationship between the processing parameters and the geometry of the cladding was analyzed, and the dominant parameters that influenced the cladding width and height were identified. The cooling rates of different forming conditions were obtained by the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS).FindingsThe microstructure showed different characteristics at different parts of the deposit. Cooling rate of different samples were obtained and compared by using the SDAS, and the influence of the process parameters to the cooling rate was analyzed. Finally, micro-hardness tests were done, and the results were found to be in accordance with the micro-structure distribution.Originality/valueRelationships between processing parameters and the forming characteristics and the cooling rates were obtained. The results obtained in this paper will help to understand the relationship between the process parameters and the forming quality of the additive manufacturing process, so as to obtain the desired forming quality by appropriate parameters.

Analysis of laser cladding process parameter influence on the clad bead geometry

In the present study, fiber laser has been used in laser cladding with an off-axis powder injection. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of the laser cladding process parameters on the clad layer geometry. The parameters studied were laser power, cladding speed, and powder feeding rate. This study was conducted by using single-pass clad layers. The powder material used was stainless steel AISI 316L and the substrate material used was structural steel S355. The relationship between the laser cladding process parameters and the clad layer geometry was established by using statistical analysis. Analysis of the cladding results concluded that the laser power and cladding speed are the main parameters that control the clad layer width. The majority of the variations were in the clad height, but the clad bead side angle was also dependent on the powder feed rate and cladding speed. This study successfully established the relationship between the laser cladding process parameters and the clad geometry.

Thermal effect on clad dimension for laser deposited Inconel 718

Additive manufacturing of components made of nickel-based and high strength materials that endure extreme environments, such as Inconel 718, is gaining traction in aerospace and automotive industries. However, one of the remaining challenges of laser deposited alloys is the volume change of the clad during a build, leading to warping, compromised dimensional integrity of the final part, and an increase in surface roughness. In addition, there has been no work in the prediction and control for volume change of localized areas within a laser deposited component. The dimensional integrity of a completed laser deposited structure is dependent on the uniformity of each individual clad track, with high variability in thermal history and clad height. The approach in this paper is the use of an in-situ infrared camera to capture the thermal history and determine the unique solidification rate of each localized point of each clad. Clad height measurements various points of the clads relative to the tool path were used to establish a relationship between process parameters, solidification rate and the volume change of the clad that verify analytical thermal models in the literature. Expanding these relationships to more complex build geometries, different laser deposited materials and a wider variety of processing conditions will allow for a better understanding, and therefore control, of the laser deposition process for more ubiquity of additive manufacturing in industry.

Microstructural Investigation Of Ti Coating On Ti6al4v By Laser Cladding

Understanding the effect of processing parameters is vital in controlling the properties of the final product fabricated from the laser cladding process. The objective of the paper is to characterize the influence of laser scanning speed of laser cladding of commercially pure titanium powder on Ti6Al4V at different scanning speeds. The results obtained showed that the clad height, width and porosity generally reduce as the scanning speed increases. The microstructure of the clad zone is of Widmanstatten structure in nature, the heat affected zone is acicular martensitic in nature, indicating a single beta phase, resulting from the temperature at this zone exceeding the critical point of the Ti6Al4V alloy substrate. The formation of titanium alloys was observed in the cladding zone, with a rich Ti phase. The deposited Ti powder reacts with both Al and V from the substrate, resulting from high affinity of Ti for both Al and V and diffusion of these elements from the substrate into the molten powder during laser cladding process. The average hardness was found to increase with an increase in scanning speed for all samples investigated, with the microhardness at the coatings is lower than that of the substrate material.

A comprehensive analytical model for laser powder-fed additive manufacturing

This paper addresses a comprehensive analytical model for the laser powder-fed additive manufacturing (LPF-AM) process, also known as directed energy deposition AM. The model analytically couples the moving laser beam with Gaussian energy distribution, the powder stream and the semi-infinite substrate together, while considering the attenuated laser power intensity distribution, the heated powder spatial distribution and the melt pool 3D shape with its boundary variation. The particles concentration on transverse plane is modeled with Gaussian distribution based on optical measurement. The model can effectively be used for process development/optimization and controller design, while predicting adequate clad geometry as well as the catchment efficiency rapidly. Experimental validation through the deposition of Inconel 625 proves the model can accurately predict the clad geometry and catchment efficiency in the range of specific energy that is corresponding to high clad quality (maximum percentage difference is 6.2% for clad width, 7.8% for clad height and 6.8% for catchment efficiency).