Robotic Wire + Arc Additive Manufacture cell

增材制造（AM）已经引起了各行各业的极大兴趣。在不同的增材制造工艺中，以金属丝为原料，电弧为热源的线+弧增材制造（WAAM）已被证明适用于生产大型部件，设备成本和运行成本相对较低。WAAM工艺已在克兰菲尔德大学开发多年，许多不同材料的大型部件，包括钛合金，铝合金，镍合金以及钢，已成功地为工业合作伙伴建造。最终用户行业，如空客、FMC技术和Glemalmond集团，都看到了WAAM工艺带来的巨大优势，能够在较短的交货时间内以较低的成本制造结构部件。库卡系统公司看到了获得这项技术前沿的巨大机会，并从第一台WAAM机器的商业化中获得商业利益。该项目的主要目标是开发一种商用机器人WAAM机器（ROBOWAAM），可以被工业合作伙伴用于制造米级组件。克兰菲尔德大学将把其广泛的WAAM工艺知识集成到基于特征的路径规划软件中，以支持最终用户为其应用制造组件。此外，将开发一个在线反馈控制系统，并将其集成到ROBOWAAM机器中，以纠正构建高度误差。为了保证零件的沉积质量，需要采用过程中无损检测（NDT）方法。通常无损检测是在零件完成后进行的。如果发现缺陷，这是一个耗时和昂贵的过程，要么需要修复程序，要么可能导致零件报废。因此，需要一种过程中的无损检测方法来检测沉积的每一层。如果发现缺陷，则需要在重新沉积之前对当前层进行机械加工。克兰菲尔德大学将与斯特拉斯克莱德大学和先进成形研究中心（AFRC）合作，利用现有的无损检测技术对WAAM零件进行过程中无损检测方法的可行性研究。过程中无损检测将与WAAM工艺合并为并行处理系统，该系统的能力将在本项目中得到验证。此外，还将对整个WAAM链的自动化需求进行扩展研究。这将包括waam前的过程，如基材清洗，waam后的过程，如热处理和最终加工，平行过程，如过程中无损检测和顶面加工，以及过程之间的材料操作。

Additive manufacturing (AM) has gained significant interests from industries of different sectors. Among different AM processes, Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), which used metal wire as feedstock and electric arc as a heat source, has been shown to be suitable for producing large scale components with comparatively low equipment cost and running cost. The WAAM process has been developed in Cranfield University for many years, many large components of different materials, including titanium alloys, aluminium alloys, nickel alloys as well as steels have been successfully built for industrial partners. The end-user industries, such as Airbus, FMC technologies and Glemalmond Group see significant benefits presented by the WAAM process to be able to manufacture structural components in a short lead time with low cost. Kuka Systems sees the great opportunity to get the forefront of this technology and to get the business benefit from commercialisation of the first WAAM machine. The main target of this project is to develop a commercial robotic WAAM machine (ROBOWAAM) that can be used by industrial partners for building meter scale components. Cranfield University will integrate its extensive WAAM process knowledge into a feature- based path planning software to support the end-users to manufacture components for their applications. In additional an online feedback control system will be developed and integrated into ROBOWAAM machine to correct build height errors. To assure the deposition quality of the part, in-process nondestructive testing (NDT) method needs to be applied. Usually NDT is applied after the components has been finished. It is a time consuming and costly process if a defect is found which would either require a repair procedure or may lead to scrapping of the part. Thus an in-process NDT method is required to for inspecting each layer of the deposition. If a defect is found then the current layer will need to be machined before the recommence of the deposition. Cranfield University will collaborate with the University of Strathclyde and Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) on a feasibility study of the in-process NDT method on the WAAM parts with existing NDT technologies. The in-process NDT will be incorporated with the WAAM process into a parallel processing system and the capability of this system will be demonstrated in this project.In addition, an extended study will be performed on the automation requirements of the whole WAAM chain. This will include the pre-WAAM processes such as substrate cleaning, post-WAAM process such as heat treatment and final machining, parallel processes such as in-process NDT and top surface machining, as well as material manipulation between processes.