Convergent Manufacturing Demonstration at IMTS 2024 Brings Additive and Subtractive Technologies Together

Aristotle said the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. He must have been into manufacturing, because when technologies converge, the system accomplishes tasks the parts cannot. This is particularly true for metal additive manufacturing (AM), where the additive process represents perhaps half of the total effort required to create a fully functional part.

To help small- and medium-sized manufacturers envision metal AM in a production environment, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has created a convergent manufacturing platform that combines metal AM, CNC machining, and other processes. This production cell will be one of the star attractions in AMT’s Emerging Technology Center (booth #236700) at IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show, which runs from Sept. 9-14 at Chicago’s McCormick Place.

“Combining additive and subtractive technologies together creates great benefits, and the ETC demonstration can inspire manufacturers to add more tools for their toolbox,” says Thomas Feldhausen, ORNL R&D staff member and principal investigator.

Converging Technologies

An MDF team that includes the efforts of more than 40 people has been working on the project since April. The manufacturing platform integrates:

• Two wire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) systems using arc directed energy deposition (arc DED), a metal AM technology from Lincoln Electric and software from Open Mind (booth #133351).
• Four robots from Yaskawa America (booth #236601).
• A machining center from Okuma (booth #338500), cutting tools supplied by Kennametal (booth #432324) and Zoller (booth #432018), and workholding from 5^th Axis (booth #431355).
• A Fastems (booth #338966) pallet tower that enables high-speed transfer of hot work, preserves registration, enables unattended operation, and provides simultaneous production of multiple high-mix components.
• An Ajax Tocco induction heating station for pre-heating/maintaining interpass temperature.
• 3D scanning metrology station from Zeiss (booth #134302).

“We created our production cell to make it modular, adaptable, and easily accessible to the masses,” says Feldhausen. “In a stand-alone-machine scenario, AM can be cumbersome because the parts still need machining, heat treating, and inspection before they can become fully functional. Because the pallet pool enables multiple processes to occur at once, our convergent system is suitable for those who want to produce high-mix, low-volume parts with a lot of unattended runtime.”

Feldhausen emphasizes that all of the technologies in the system are currently available, and most are demonstrated elsewhere on the IMTS show floor. Further, the particular brands and processes can easily be changed and adapted.

“We are showing the possibilities of new manufacturing workflows by creating a connected system,” says Feldhausen. “I’d also challenge visitors to imagine how they can start with standardized raw feedstock, then use AM to add features.”

To illustrate the point, the convergent platform in the ETC will feature a casting and forging demonstration that adds features to bar stock using nickel-aluminum-bronze filler wire. The build is based on the “Platypus,” as defined in the NAVSEA qualification publication T9074-BD-GIB-010_0300, which serves as the first article casting the Navy uses to qualify a new foundry.

The convergent platform will also provide a tooling-oriented demonstration that will produce a new mold for each day to create a unique challenge coin for every day of IMTS. Finally, a clean energy-oriented demonstration will simulate repairing the tooth on wind turbine gear.

“I’d encourage small- and medium-sized businesses viewing the demonstration to engage with ORNL experts at IMTS, to discuss your goals and challenges,” says Feldhausen.

Feldhausen “eats, sleeps, breathes” AM and hybrid systems and has used machines from most providers, including those from Okuma (booth 338500), Mazak (booth #338300), Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies (booth #432320), and Phillips Corporation (booth #121405).

“People love to ask me, ‘What’s your favorite AM technology?’ or ‘What’s the best one out there if you’re looking to buy?’ There are no right or wrong answers,” he says. “It depends on your applications, materials, and objectives. That’s why ORNL doesn’t pick winners and losers. We help people find and develop the right technologies for their operation.”

The first step to explore more emerging and ready-to-implement AM and hybrid technologies is to register for IMTS 2024 at IMTS.com/Register. Then create an Show Planner account to map out your visit where you can add exhibitors you’d like to see in the Additive Sector, accelerated by Formnext, and speakers to hear on the Formnext Stage.

About the Author

Bonnie Gurney is the vice president of strategic content and partnerships at AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology