Simulation-Based Process Design of Recontouring Technologies

Abstract

AbstractEngine manufacturers generate about 50% of their total turnover with maintenance. Damaged parts can either be replaced by spare parts or can be regenerated by e.g. local welding processes. One major step of the manufacturing part of the process chain for regeneration after the material deposition is the removal of excess weld material by cutting, which is called recontouring. Recontouring is often the last process step, which defines the final surface integrity and thus the performance of the repaired parts. Thereby, each component has a batch size of one by reason of individuality. In industrial praxis, the recontouring is done mainly with high manual effort. This results in uncertain and unreproducible repair processes for each component. Hence, a major challenge for recontouring processes is the reduction of the required manual effort by an automated method. In the subproject C1 “simulation-based process design of recontouring technologies”, machining investigations and technological simulations were applied in combination with suitable models for a process adaption in order to reach the required workpiece properties. A special focus was the transition from the undamaged area to the deposited material. Furthermore, a method for effective process planning was developed for the generation of 5-axis milling tool paths. This increases the effectiveness of the process planning by adapting them to the individual shape of the component. The present paper gives an overview of the main results of the investigation of methods for the individual process planning of recontouring technologies based on process simulations. This includes the development of an algorithm for the automatic planning of the recontouring process. A Dexel-based simulation method was developed and experimentally validated which allows the prognosis of the geometrical shape of the material deposition. Based on that, the influence of the resulting material allowance on the recontouring was studied. The aim was the generation of a part quality that satisfies the requirements of the functional review. The evaluation of the part quality was conducted by a Dexel-based technological process simulation of the recontouring process. This allowed the prediction of the workpiece surface as well as the research of the influence of the process parameters on the main residual stresses.