Laser generating metallic components

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Abstract
Recent developments in rapid prototyping have led to the concept of laser generating, the first additive manufacturing technology. This paper presents an innovative process of depositing multi-layer tracks, by fusing successive powder tracks, to generate three dimensional components, thereby offering an alternative to casting for small metal component manufacture. A coaxial nozzle assembly has been designed and manufactured enabling consistent omni-directional multi-layer deposition. In conjunction with this the software route from a CAD drawing to machine code generation has been established. The part is manufactured on a six axes machining center incorporating a 1.8 kW carbon-dioxide laser, providing an integrated opto-mechanical workstation. The part build-up program is controlled by a P150 host computer, linked directly to the DNC machining center. The direct manufacturing route is shown, including initial examples of simple objects (primitives -- cube, cylinder, cone) leading to more complex turbine blade generation, incorporating build-up techniques and the associated mechanical properties.

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