Multi-axis LDED-PF of components with variable overhang angles

A partnership between Promation, a leading integrator and manufacturer of tooling, automation and robotic solutions based in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, and CAD/CAM software developer ModuleWorks, headquartered in Aachen, Germany, along with scientists from the Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing (MSAM) Laboratory of Canada’s University of Waterloo, has resulted in a new process planning framework that enables the fabrication of complex-shaped components with variable overhang angles using laser directed energy deposition via powder feeding (LDED-PF). This novel framework results in avoiding the support structures and improve the efficiency of the LDED-PF process.

Critical components with overhang features, including a closed hemisphere dome and pipes with different bend angles, impose a challenge for LDED-PF since material deposition can’t be performed due to the lack of support structures in overhang regions. The team has established novel slicing algorithms accompanied with tests on the robotic platform to build complex components that include complex bend angles and closed features like a hemisphere dome. In this technique, the deposition nozzle is installed on a 6-axis robotic arm and a 2- axis positioner is used to locate the parts in a way to ensure the deposition nozzle is always tangent to the deposition surface.

The material characterizations of these components show these alternate techniques can be used to build the parts without altering the material properties. This novel approach has many applications in the tooling, nuclear and aerospace industries.