AM技術導入によるものづくり改革

抄録

The additive manufacturing technology has been increasingly paid attention from industries in recent years because it has a great potential as a practical and cost-effective manufacturing method. The direct energy deposition (DED) method is one of the popular metal AM processes. The application of DED, especially the hybrid technology with cutting, was conventionally limited to cases such as design reviews and verifications, but recently the technology has started to be used more practically for wider purposes such as buildup/repair of dies and molds, high hardness coating of existing workpieces and bi metal cladding. In the experiment of coating nickel-family alloy on pure copper, it was demonstrated that the coated surface was consistent with no peeling on the substrate and that the laser head was not damaged despite that the laser had been vertically irradiated on the substrate. For the stable application of DED, it is necessary to manage the process and the monitoring function is important. Molten pool size, working distance, work temperature and powder flow stability are key parameters, which can be monitored by the sensor and the camera. This report describes the features of DED type hybrid machine tools, application examples and material development results based on the in-house development of AM machines.