Robotic Wire + Arc Additive Manufacture cell

增材制造（AM）已经引起了不同行业的极大兴趣。在不同的增材制造工艺中，使用金属丝作为原料和电弧作为热源的丝+电弧增材制造（WAAM）已被证明适用于生产大型部件，其设备成本和运行成本相对较低。WAAM工艺在克兰菲尔德大学已经开发了很多年，已经成功地为工业合作伙伴制造了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。空中客车、FMC技术和Glemalmond集团等终端用户行业看到了WAAM工艺的显著优势，能够在短时间内以低成本制造结构部件。Kuka Systems看到了获得该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业机器人WAAM机器（ROBOWAAM），可供工业合作伙伴用于建造米级组件。克兰菲尔德大学将把其广泛的WAAM工艺知识整合到一个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，还将开发在线反馈控制系统，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，需要采用在线无损检测（NDT）方法。NDT通常在部件完成后应用。这是一个耗时和昂贵的过程，如果发现一个缺陷，这将需要修复程序或可能导致报废的一部分。因此，需要一种过程中NDT方法来检查沉积的每一层。如果发现缺陷，则需要在重新开始沉积之前对当前层进行机加工。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零件进行在线无损检测方法的可行性研究。本项目将把过程中无损检测与WAAM过程合并到一个并行处理系统中，并将在本项目中展示该系统的能力。此外，还将对整个WAAM链的自动化要求进行扩展研究。这将包括预WAAM过程，如基板清洁，后WAAM过程，如热处理和最终加工，并行过程，如过程中NDT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.