Developing strategies for medium volume production in directed energy deposition additive manufacturing

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes enable the validation of design variants, and the manufacturing of low volume specialty components. Slow fabrication times are an issue for larger production volumes, but for the directed energy deposition (DED) and hybrid manufacturing (where additive and machining operations are interwoven), new process planning scenarios can be explored for both low and medium volume production levels, which aligns well with addressing on-demand service and out of production components. DED AM is a material deposition based process. Wire filament or powder is melted by a heat source, and multi-axis tool paths can be employed to deposit the material. Large freeform components can be fabricated without support material; however, production volume scalability is an issue. Prior to exploring multi-function or reconfigurable machines and dynamic layouts, a framework for defining nomenclature for DED AM precedence diagrams and value stream maps, and insights for systematically decomposing components for macro and micro level process planning needs to be developed.  The goal of this research is to provide a foundation for DED and hybrid manufacturing for low volume production (100 – 2000 pcs) for short planning horizons (1 week to 1 month) which would align to ‘medium volume’ production levels. This specific paper will present research performed to date on addressing these challenges.