Process Design for the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of a Compressor Impeller

Abstract

Additive manufacturing or 3D printing slowly and steadily replaces traditional subtractive manufacturing, where parts are manufactured by sequentially removing pieces of the workpiece material. In 3D printing, the material is added in layers, which enables producing parts of complex geometric shapes made from expensive metals with higher productivity and economic efficiency. In order to perform 3D printing on an industrial scale, it is necessary to combine robotics with 3D printing software. This article presents the results of the process design for 3D printing of a compressor impeller prototype. A detailed methodology of customization of the KUKA industrial robot for the 3D printing process is given. Once the impeller model was created in the CAD environment, it was cut into layers in the slicer program. Special software for offline programming of industrial robots was used to translate the program into the robot language and perform 3D printing using an experimental robotic complex. As a result, a prototype of a low-carbon steel compressor impeller was printed using a welding machine and steel wire. The developed technological process was successful and proved that an industrial robot combined with a welding machine can be used as an industrial 3D printer for printing real machine parts.