Tool Path Generation For 3D Laser Cladding using adaptive Slicing Technology

Laser cladding (LC) combined with CAD/CAM can be used to perform rapid tooling and prototyping applications in an industrial environment. Most existing laser cladding processes are adapted into slicing technology, in which a CAD model is represented by a stack of flat and thin layers. Under this strategy, a CAD model is sliced horizontally into a set of planar layers with constant thickness. This paper presents a procedure and an algorithm that allows the slice thickness to be adapted as a function of the arc length of the CAD model geometry. Additionally an adaptive slicing procedure, based on non planar layers is presented in this paper. For LC on curved substrates it is essential to adapt the slicing plane to the shape of the existing surface. The tool paths are generated by determining the intersection curves between part surface and the curved slicing plane. This can be done by computing the intersection curve between a general parametric surface and a tesselated CAD model. This article also includes a tool path generation procedure using direct slicing. Direct slicing generates precise contour curves for each layer from the solid model and avoids an intermediate representation, such as the STL format. Slicing with curved surfaces and direct slicing is explained on the example of hard-facing of oil drilling tools.