A Rapid Manufacturing Process for High Performance Precision Metal Parts

This paper summarizes the current research, and development of a hybrid manufacturing process to produce 100% dense metal parts with prescribed precision. High performance metals, such as titanium alloys, nickel superalloys, tool steel, stainless steels, etc., can benefit from this process. Coupling the additive and the subtractive processes into a single workstation, the hybrid process, can produce metal parts with accuracy. The surface quality of the final product is similar to the industrial milling capability. Therefore, the hybrid process is potentially a very competitive process for fabrication and repair of fully dense metallic parts with precision requirements. It will certainly impact the future rapid manufacturing industry. To achieve such a system, issues, including the understanding of the direct laser deposition process and the automated process planning of the hybrid manufacturing process, are presented