New development of laser rapid forming and its application in high performance materials processing

The development history of laser rapid forming (LRF) was reviewed, and the theory, technical characteristics and recent development of several representative LRF techniques including the laser cladding forming, laser engineered net shaping, laser solid forming and laser selective melting techniques were summarized. On the basis, the applications of the above several techniques to high-performance metal and ceramic materials were introduced. The LRF technique is the most promising method to achieve advanced metals and ceramics with near-full density, high shaping precision and complex structure. Finally, the possible development trends of LRF in future were discussed.