Due to the unparalleled benefits of traditional processing techniques, additive manufacturing technology has experienced rapid development and continues to expand its applications. However, as industrial standards advance, the pressing needs for high precision, high performance, and high efficiency in the manufacturing sector have emerged as critical bottlenecks hindering the technology’s progress. Single-laser additive manufacturing methods are insufficient to meet these demands. This review presents a comprehensive exploration of metal hybrid laser additive manufacturing technology, encompassing various aspects, such as multi-process hybrid laser additive manufacturing, additive–subtractive hybrid manufacturing, multi-energy hybrid additive manufacturing, and multi-material hybrid additive manufacturing. Through a thorough examination of the principles of laser additive manufacturing technology and the concept of hybrid manufacturing, this paper investigates in depth the notable advantages of hybrid laser additive manufacturing technology. It provides valuable insights and recommendations to guide the development and research of innovative machining technologies.

In order to improve the forming quality of the Inconel 625 cladding layer and make it to be more widely used. This paper addresses an experimental investigation on the influence of major process parameters like laser power, scanning speed, powder feed rate, and overlapping rate along with their interactions on surface roughness and width error of laser additive manufacturing process for forming Inconel 625 samples. Taguchi method and grey relational analysis were used to optimize the selected parameters, and the verification tests were carried out. The change of microhardness and microstructure in the overlapping zone and nonoverlapping zone of the cladding layer were studied by microhardness tester and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that the most significant effect in processing parameters on surface roughness and width error are both overlapping rate, and the optimal levels of laser power, scanning speed, powder feeder rate, and overlapping rate are 1800 W, 8 mm/s, 10 g/min, and 30%, respectively. Analysis of microstructure and composition showed that the content of Cr was high both in the Laves phase and matrix, the content of Nb in the Laves phase increased significantly and reached up to 24.48 wt%, and the Laves in the nonoverlapping zone was more compact than the overlapping zone.

The distribution law of residual stress in multi-channel scanned plasma cladding of Co-based alloy under different process parameters was studied by means of simulation and tests, and the optimum process parameters were optimized. The simulation model of the plasma cladding stress field was established by ABAQUS software, and the influence law of the working current, scanning speed, and scanning mode on the residual stress of the Co-based alloy multi-channel scanning was studied. A set of optimal cladding process parameters were obtained. The residual stress of the cladding layer was measured by the blind hole method and compared with the stress value in the finite element model. The results show that there is residual tensile stress on the surface of the cladding layer. The residual stress along the direction of the scanning path is greater than that along the direction of the scan sequence. The residual stress increases with the increase of the working current. The scanning speed is greater, and the residual stress is smaller. The residual stress of the short-edge scanning is greater than that of the long-edge scanning. The residual stress of the successive scanning is greater than that of the reciprocating scanning. The long-edge reciprocating scanning is the best scanning mode. The best combination of process parameters is the working current of 90 A, the scanning speed of 100 mm/min, and the long-edge reciprocating scanning mode.

To explore the effect of ultrasonic vibration power and frequency on the residual stress of single-channel iron-based alloy plasma cladding, the single-factor ultrasonic vibration plasma cladding test was designed, and ten groups of single-channel iron-based alloy cladding samples under different process parameters were studied. The drilling method was used to measure the residual stress of the substrate at the beginning, middle and tail positions of each sample cladding layer. The residual stress of the substrate was analyzed and the significant characteristics of the effect of ultrasonic vibration power and frequency on the residual stress at different positions were explored using variance analysis. The results show that the residual stress is significantly reduced after applying ultrasonic waves. When the ultrasonic frequency is constant and the ultrasonic power is 240 W, the residual stress of the formed sample is the smallest. Compared with the unapplied ultrasonic assistance, the residual stress in the X direction is reduced by 62.56%, and the residual stress in the Y direction is reduced by 63.23%. When the ultrasonic power is constant and the ultrasonic frequency is 28 kHz, the residual stress of the formed sample is the smallest. Compared with the unapplied ultrasonic assistance, the residual stress in the X direction is reduced by 17.23%, and the residual stress in the Y direction is reduced by 19.79%. The ultrasonic power significantly affects the middle part of the substrate, and the ultrasonic frequency significantly affects each point of the substrate.