Development of a framework for computer aided design and manufacturing of 3 axis hybrid wire arc additive manufacturing

Abstract

Hybrid Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (H-WAAM) has revolutionized modern metal manufacturing industries through its ability to realize medium to large metallic components within a short span of time. In H-WAAM, Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP) is the basic step that helps in improving the productivity and quality of the fabricated components. CAPP of H-WAAM needs to be treated differently from that of traditional AM due to the higher deposition rate and synergistic involvement of the subtractive process. The traditional CAPP solutions used for AM are restricted to Stereolithography (STL) file format and provide limited access to the process parameters. However, if a CAD/CAM system that has been dedicatedly developed for the SM satisfies certain conditions then it can be utilized for the CAPP of H-WAAM. Therefore, in this work, a generalized framework for utilizing any CAD/CAM system for the CAPP of the H-WAAM has been proposed. The framework supports a wide variety of standard CAD formats and enables the user to choose several build strategies. The toolpath for deposition as well as machining can be generated with a common work coordinate system. This eliminates the time it takes to move components from one platform to another. The developed framework has been validated through a case study of fabricating an impeller.