Enhanced Toolpath Generation for Direct Metal Deposition by Using Distinctive CAD Data

The additive process of Direct Metal Deposition shows great potential for the production and repair of large-scale metallic components due to its high deposition rate and easy integration into CNC machining and robot systems. Conventional CAM software applies only geometric information to calculate the toolpath, requiring still high manual input for the production of complex parts. An enhanced approach is proposed that gathers relevant information from product development and hands it over as “distinctive” CAD data, which describes a set of features that is used by the CAM system for the generation of the toolpath. Zigzag patterns, contour patterns as well as the combination called “hybrid toolpath” are discussed and distinctive data is applied to build thin-walled elements. The experimental validation reveals a high surface quality and shape accuracy of demonstrator parts built with optimized process parameters and toolpath strategies.