Description

The combination of the laser powder bed fusion of metals process (PBF-LB/M) with mechanical finishing using state-of-the-art machining centers enables the production of high-performance structural components with both internal and external complexity and precision. However, the sequential machining of additive manufactured parts can be challenging due to the need for multiple clamping set-ups and part-specific clamping devices. Post-processing typically accounts for 20-40% of manufacturing costs and can even double the cost of the final part. To reduce component costs, mechanical post-processing should be considered. This study presents a novel concept for the development of resource-efficient add-on structures, that can simplify mechanical post-processing. These structures can either be applied to the part design prior to additive manufacturing or integrated into the part's support structures. The developed structures allow the direct mounting of near-net-shape components on automatable, state-of-the-art parallel clamping systems. The structures are designed to clamp the parts with increased accessibility for 5-sided simultaneous machining. The additional material costs are calculated within the work. The procedure for generating the add-on structures for additive manufacturing, using bounding box, topology and shape optimization is presented. The mechanical behavior of the add-on structures is verified by clamping and measurement tests. The developments were validated by the manufacturing of 3 different components from the aerospace and laser technology sectors, using PBF-LB/M and aluminum alloy AlSi10Mg. The overall functionality of the add-on structures was validated by finishing the functional surfaces of the components and mechanically removing the support structures, using 5-axis vertical milling centers.

Contributing Authors

  • Johannes Waldschmidt
    Hein & Oetting Feinwerktechnik GmbH
  • Marcel Dias da Silva
    Hamburg University of Technology
  • Sebastian Roth
    Hamburg University of Technology
  • Tim Röver
    Hamburg University of Technology
Johannes Waldschmidt
Hein & Oetting Feinwerktechnik GmbH
Track: Laser Additive Manufacturing
Session: Powder Bed Fusion II
Day of Week: Wednesday
Date/Time:
Location: Mt. Olympus

Keywords

  • Clamping
  • Laser Additive Manufacturing (Lam)
  • Laser-Based Powder Bed Fusion Of Metals (L-Pbf)
  • Milling
  • Sequential Post-Process Machining