Adaptive fuzzy sliding-mode control for the Ti6Al4V laser alloying process

It is well known that surface alloying quality may vary significantly with respect to process parameter variation. Thus a feedback control system is required to monitor the operating parameters for yielding a good quality control. Since this multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) system has nonlinear coupling and time-varying dynamic characteristics, it is very difficult to establish an accurate process model for designing a model-based controller. Hence an adaptive fuzzy sliding-mode controller (AFSMC) which combines an adaptive rule with fuzzy and sliding-mode control is employed in this study. It has an on-line learning ability for responding to a system’s nonlinear and time-varying behaviours. Two adaptive fuzzy sliding-mode controllers are designed for tuning the laser power and the traverse velocity simultaneously to tackle the absorptivitiy and geometrical variations of the work pieces. The simulation results show that good surface lapping performance is achieved by using this intelligent control strategy.