Study of the Geometrical Limitations Associated to the Metallic Part Manufacturing by the LMD Process

Abstract

The work here presented is focused on defining the geometrical limitations in the manufacturing of metallic parts by the additive manufacturing (AM) technology named Laser Metal Deposition (LMD). AM techniques are often perceived by designers as able to produce parts of any level of complexity. Nevertheless, there exist limitations inherent to all AM processes, and in particular to the LMD, where geometrical distortions and other undesirable factors can be produced, this technique does not provide absolute freedom to fabricate any geometry. Part designers often lack of comprehension about these problems and their effect in the final products. The aim of this work is to approach this lack of knowledge via experimental inspection in order to quantify the geometrical limitations and identify the most common defects of the LMD. To this purpose, the research was focused in the study of inclined walls, experimentally depositing and measuring which is the maximum slope with which an inclined wall can be manufactured by LMD under different conditions