Interests of 5 axis toolpaths generation for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of aluminum alloys

Additive Manufacturing (AM) for metal part can be divided into two different types: The powder technology and the wire technology. Usually, powder is adapted for fine components and small parts whereas wire is used for structural components and large scale part. One of the main benefits of AM is to simplify assemblies by reducing the number of components and to provide a large freedom of design. A standard AM system consists of a combination of three blocks: a motion system, a heat source and a feedstock. For Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), the heat source is a welding generator and the feedstock is a wire. The motion system generally used is a 6 axis robot or a CNC machine. This paper aims to propose a methodology to generate 5 axis toolpaths for WAAM and highlight the main parameters which selection is a key issue to resolve. The goal is to compare 3 axis and 5 axis toolpaths on part accuracy, depending the clearance angle of the part.