Open Mind presents hyperMill Additive Manufacturing, an addition to its CAM/CAD suite for satisfying the requirements of industrial 3D printing processes.
The solution opens up an array of flexible options for Directed Energy Deposition processes (DED) and Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) in terms of highly complex 5-axis simultaneous processing. Both laser-based powder nozzle machining heads and wire arc additive manufacturing can be controlled using the software for selective material deposition, as well as conveniently programmed and automatically simulated for collision avoidance.
The hyperMill suite now allows the potential of additive manufacturing to be truly exploited using Powder Bed Fusion (PBF). If 3D-printed parts do not offer the desired precision, or support structures have to be removed, the parts can be machined afterwards by means of 5-axis cutting processes, ensuring secure machining of even hard-to-reach areas. As an integral part of the process chain, the Open Mind CAD/CAM system supports reworking of this nature: the printed components are analyzed, milled to size and examined.
With its solution, Open Mind is driving forward implementation of integrated process chains, allowing additive and subtractive manufacturing to be combined in one single machine tool for hybrid manufacturing. hyperMill now enables users to perfectly program the cladding and the milling together. True-to-detail application and removal simulation as well as stock tracking between the individual machining steps guarantee the greatest possible process reliability.
Important applications will include repairing damaged components, such as in mold-making and tool-making, or repairing turbine blades in the aerospace industry. This also opens up totally new options for combining different materials, such as when high-quality material layers have to be applied to carrier materials.