Resources and manufacturing technology evaluation of hybrid additive metal laminated tooling for forming

Abstract. The rough surface finish caused by the stair step effect is the major drawback in the application of sheet metal laminates in rapid tooling. The application of laser metal deposition (LMD) and subsequent post-processing (milling, ball burnishing, and laser polishing) to reduce the stair-step effect in hybrid additive metal laminated forming tools was recently presented. In the present study, the energy consumption and manufacturing time of the hybrid process are compared with the conventional (milling plus hardening by heat treatment) as well as with full LMD and milled components. The hybrid process requires significantly less energy and manufacturing time compared to the LMD components. Since the surface hardness is sufficient for tooling in the hybrid process, no additional hardening is required, also resulting in a shorter manufacturing time and lower energy relative to the conventional method (depending on the part mass, a minimum of 29% is faster). The optimal sheet laminate combination based on the economic criteria for the tool with a radius of 6 mm is presented.