Integrated process planning for a multi-axis hybrid manufacturing system

In a multi-axis metal hybrid layered manufacturing system, in which a laser material deposition and material removal system with more than 3-axis mobility are configured, a process planning to automatic define motion path for the integrated system is critical. The purpose of this research is to develop a robust system which could handle issues in the process planning.; Even with a multi-axis capability, support structures are sometimes needed in the part building process to prevent objects from falling during the deposition process. In the first paper, a general geometry-reasoning based method is presented to extract and process support structures for a multi-axis layered manufacturing system based on STL file format. With this approach, parts with internal cavities and details can be fabricated.; The concept and construction of 2-D visibility map is discussed and its result can be used to find proper orientations of cutting tools for the CNC machine to finish surface machining. Also the type of the surface machining toolpath for different types of surfaces is decided based on topological information and the machining toolpath (CL data for milling tool). This new approach is discussed in the second paper.; An integrated process planning scheme is presented in the third paper. The non-uniform (thickness) layer and its building method with hybrid processes are discussed. An overall algorithm for integration is described. The newly developed algorithm implemented in the process planning helps the hybrid system build part more efficiently. The system has been implemented on a PC using VC++/OpenGL.