Additive Manufacturing Redesigning of Metallic Parts for High Precision Machines

Abstract

The conventional approach to design and manufacturing often has geometries with an efficient material distribution. For the high-precision machines, that approach involves the design of heavy components that guarantees the stiffness requirements. However, the higher the weight of the part, the higher inertia it has. As a result, when the feed axes are accelerated, the inertial forces deform the machine components and the precision of the machine is reduced. This study investigated the designing for additive manufacturing (DfAM) and designing for assembly (DfA) to increase the material efficiency of components for high-precision applications. A new methodology which considered the design and manufacturing issues and machining as well is given. A comprehensive model for cost evaluation of the part is presented. The case study refers to the rails and the bracket that support and move the flying probe of a testing machine for micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS). The weight of the rails has been decreased by 32% and the components to be assembled have been reduced from 16 to 7. The optimized bracket is more than 50% stiffer than the original one, 10% lighter, and economically competitive.

3D-Printed MEMS in Italy

“…This is the reason why the group of Galati et al [ 52 ] proposed the use of direct MLS for the redesign and fabrication of a flying measure probe for MEMS testing. The aim of their work was to re-think the support and moving system for the flying probe, to improve the accuracy of measurements and to reduce the weight and the number of the printed parts maintaining the stiffness, and to fabricate it through a high-resolution and dimensional-accuracy technology.…”

Microstructure and Defect Analysis of 17-4PH Stainless Steel Fabricated by the Bound Metal Deposition Additive Manufacturing Technology

“…This allows for the redefining of the shape of a part by applying topology optimization and following the Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) principles [3][4][5]. This will have a crucial impact not only on the performance of the final part but also on the cost and the sustainability of AM adoption by also reducing the manufacturing waste [3,[5][6][7][8].…”

Thermal Conductivity of Ti-6Al-4V in Laser Powder Bed Fusion

“…Additive manufacturing (AM) of metals is today used in numerous applications e.g., in aerospace (Liu et al, 2017), industrial engineering (Galati et al, 2020) and tooling manufacture (Chantzis et al, 2020), to name a few only. Of all metal AM processes, powder bed fusion (PBF) is taking a share of 90% in terms of installed machines, with laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) being the most widely used technology within PBF (Herzog et al, 2021b).…”