A Macroscopic and Microscopic Integrated Decision-making Model for Evaluating Process Compatibility of Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing(AM) has outstanding problems such as difficult to manufacture in suspended areas, difficult to predict the formability of parts with different structures and different performance requirements, thus it is significant to evaluate the matching and rationality of the process in advance. A decision-making model that integrated macroscopic and microscopic factors was proposed to evaluate the formability of parts from the perspective of additive manufacturing processes, and to deduce the optimized forming strategy according to the effectiveness of printed parts. A mathematical model of the relationship between design requirements and manufacturing processes was established in the macro-decision stage, to judge the degree of matching of processes from the perspective of formability. The mathematical model of surface roughness, support structure volume and printing time was established in the micro-decision stage to optimize the printing processes from the perspective of print quality. Finally, a topologically optimized beam part was taken as an example. The established model was used to optimize the printing processes, and the results are consistent with the simulation printing results, which verify the validity of the mathematical model. © 2019, China Mechanical Engineering Magazine Office. All right reserved.