Non-Planar Helical Path Generation Method for Laser Metal Deposition of Overhanging Thin-Walled Structures

Laser metal deposition is a branch of additive manufacturing that offers advantages over traditional manufacturing techniques for forming overhanging thin-walled metal parts. Previously, helical paths that were suitable for manufacturing such parts were not only limited to stacking material on a flat surface but were also fixed to the model boundaries. In order to solve these two problems to meet more complex process requirements, a non-planar helical path generation method is proposed for laser metal deposition. The method is based on the characteristics of the additive manufacturing process planning flow, which first slices the model using curved surfaces, then offsets the contours on the sliced layering, and finally generates continuous helical paths according to the contracted or expanded contours. In order to verify the feasibility of the method, hollow blades are formed on cylindrical surfaces following the planned paths. The results show that the proposed method is not only capable of assisting the laser metal deposition process to fabricate thin-walled structures on non-planar surfaces but also capable of freely adjusting the contour dimension.