Direct Energy Deposition: a complete workflow for the additive manufacturing of complex shape parts

Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) using Direct Energy Deposition (DED) is a fast-growing technological process that brings a positive boost to manufacturing industry. When compared with traditional manufacturing methods the advantages of DED are multiple, it is more cost-effective, reduces material waste and presents reduced manufacturing lead-times. However, the production of metallic parts with a complex shape is still challenging, demanding to avoid manufacturing support structures and the generation of non-horizontal and non-planar layers. Starting from the Computer-Aided Design (CAD) model of the part to produce, we propose an integrated CAD-to-part methodology featuring part decomposition, path planning, distortion and robot motion simulation, generation of the robot code and the production of the real part. Especially challenging is the path planning strategy that highly affects the final part quality. A real use case is proposed to the fabrication of an aircraft part using Laser Metal Deposition (LMD). Results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.