Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing of Concrete Using a 6-Axis Robotic Arm for Autonomous Habitat Construction

Watson, N. D.; Meisel, Nicholas A.; Bilén, Sven G.; Duarte, José Pinto; Nazarian, Shadi

doi:10.26153/tsw/17383

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Moreover, the topic is often debated in the construction research field, where huge volumes of deposition are ordinary. The primary AM technologies used in the construction industry include wire arc AM (WAAM) for metallic structures [18,19] and concrete deposition for 3D-printed buildings [20,21]. One of the research questions addressed is the selection between CNC gantry and articulated robot machines.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison between Eight-Axis Articulated Robot and Five-Axis CNC Gantry Laser Metal Deposition Machines for Fabricating Large Components

Maffia

Chiappini²,

Maggiani³

et al. 2023

Applied Sciences

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Laser metal deposition (LMD) is an additive manufacturing (AM) process capable of producing large components for the aerospace and oil and gas industries. This is achieved by mounting the deposition head on a motion system, such as an articulated robot or a gantry computer numerical control (CNC) machine, which can scan large volumes. Articulated robots are more flexible and less expensive than CNC machines, which on the other hand, are more accurate. This study compares two LMD systems with different motion architectures (i.e., an eight-axis articulated robot and a five-axis CNC gantry machine) in producing a large gas turbine axisymmetric component. The same process parameters were applied to both machines. The deposited components show no significant differences in geometry, indicating that the different performances in terms of accuracy of the two machines do not influence the outcome. The findings indicate that LMD can consistently produce large-scale axisymmetric metal components with both types of equipment. For such an application, the user has the option of using an articulated robot when flexibility and cost are essential, such as in a research context, or a CNC machine where ease of programming and process standardization are important elements, such as in an industrial environment.

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