Abstract
Recent advances in additive manufacturing (AM) have attracted significant industrial interest. Initially, AM was mainly associated with the fabrication of prototypes, but the AM advances together with the broadening range of available materials, especially for producing metallic parts, have broaden the application areas and now the technology can be used for manufacturing functional parts, too. Especially, the AM technologies enable the creation of complex and topologically optimised geometries with internal cavities that were impossible to produce with traditional manufacturing processes. However, the tight geometrical tolerances along with the strict surface integrity requirements in aerospace, biomedical and automotive industries are not achievable in most cases with standalone AM technologies. Therefore, AM parts need extensive post-processing to ensure that their surface and dimensional requirements together with their respective mechanical properties are met. In this context, it is not surprising that the integration of AM with post-processing technologies into single and multi set-up processing solutions, commonly referred to as hybrid AM, has emerged as a very attractive proposition for industry while attracting a significant R&D interest. This paper reviews the current research and technology advances associated with the hybrid AM solutions. The special focus is on hybrid AM solutions that combine the capabilities of laser-based AM for processing powders with the necessary post-process technologies for producing metal parts with required accuracy, surface integrity and material properties. Commercially available hybrid AM systems that integrate laser-based AM with post-processing technologies are also reviewed together with their key application areas. Finally, the main challenges and open issues in broadening the industrial use of hybrid AM solutions are discussed.
Highlights
The advances of additive manufacturing (AM) technology have broaden its application areas and AM is becoming a viable option for producing completely functional metal parts
It was reported that the hybrid samples showed density higher than 99%, fine microstructure and higher hardness than the result obtained on parts fabricated using the standalone laser-based PBF (LPBF) process
The results showed that the need for support structures during the AM process could be avoided by selecting the optimal part positioning and inclination angles during the Direct laser deposition (DLD) process
Summary
The advances of additive manufacturing (AM) technology have broaden its application areas and AM is becoming a viable option for producing completely functional metal parts. Amaia Jiménez and Prveen Bidare are joint first authors In this context, the paper is focused on hybrid manufacturing solutions that combine the capabilities of laser-based AM technologies for consolidating metal powders with postprocessing ones, e.g. machining, heat treatments and surface finishing, to produce parts with required accuracy, surface. In order to consider multi setup solutions as hybrid, special fixtures or geometrical references should be employed to minimise part-positioning errors Such single and multi set-up hybrid AM solutions offer capabilities for producing metal parts with higher complexity without compromising their accuracy, surface integrity and material properties. The potential of such hybrid AM manufacturing routes has attracted a significant industrial and research interest. Conclusions are made about the reviewed hybrid AM routes
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