A tool vector control for laser additive manufacturing in five-axis configuration

Laser additive manufacturing facilitates the manufacture of functional structures, gradient materials, and complex inner structure parts. This process, which is known for its rapid and green manufacturing capabilities, presents an important direction for the development of advanced manufacturing technologies. However, contour accuracy introduces a technical bottleneck that remains unsolved. In five-axis laser additive manufacturing, tool vector control plays a pivotal role in determining contour accuracy. Accordingly, this article proposes a method for tool vector control in five-axis laser additive manufacturing. This method utilizes a five-axis spiral milling tool path to change the vector direction for five-axis laser additive manufacturing and to improve the contour precision of complex surface parts. First, the continuous spiral tool path is obtained by using commercial CAM software. Second, based on the relationship between the additive and subtractive control vectors, the control vector of the obtained spiral tool path is converted into the tool vector control of the laser cladding. Third, the tool position point and tool vector arc converted into a G code program via post processing. Fourth, the performance of the proposed method is verified by conducting a virtual simulation and a five-axis laser cladding experiment with a blade specimen.