There are several excellent reasons for deploying hybrid manufacturing – it is more sustainable and flexible than traditional machining and is an efficient way to modify parts and to iterate engineering projects. But it is also less well understood than subtractive manufacturing, making it essential to put in place seamless hybrid manufacturing processes that are easy for existing design, production and inspection teams to deploy.
What is hybrid manufacturing?
Hybrid manufacturing is the integration of additive and subtractive manufacturing techniques in a single system. The additive manufacturing component builds parts layer by layer (additively) directly from a digital model. 3D printing is the key technology and allows for efficient material usage while enabling the creation of complex geometries that would be difficult with traditional methods. You can find out more about additive manufacturing here.
Subtractive manufacturing is the exact opposite. It is when parts or products are machined to remove (subtract) material. Subtractive manufacturing is used to refine parts, removing excess material to achieve precise dimensions and finish. This combined approach maximises the advantages of both techniques, offering greater flexibility, sustainability and efficiency in the production process.
Cutting waste with hybrid manufacturing
Hybrid manufacturing is especially effective for complex or custom parts, lightweighting and material reduction. The approach makes it possible to greatly minimise waste by using additive techniques to form the part and then subtractive methods to precisely machine only the functional areas. It is also ideal for parts that require the deposition of a harder metal, such as Inconel.
Not every production team, however, has additive manufacturing skills on board, so any technology deployment needs to make the move to hybrid manufacturing as straightforward as possible.
Key considerations and how to get it right
For example, one of the key processes in hybrid manufacturing is adding material to an initial stock. Whether using powder, wire deposition, metalisation or extrusion, it’s important to be able to simulate the material construction with dynamic collision checking, while also creating the evolving stock for surface finishing and any other post-processing tasks. And it needs to be done as quickly and automatically as possible. EDGECAM software has been designed to create the machine additive nozzle paths while creating the 3D model of the built product. It can then apply surface finishing. Other tool paths that will complete the manufacture process all in a single NC code generated.
Hybrid modelling also greatly simplifies part modification and engineering iterations. This includes stress simulation, with manufacturers using a scanner to extract virtual geometrical data out of the relevant physical parts. Reverse-engineering models can then use the resulting point-cloud data. Again, high levels of productivity and cost-efficiency depend on having processes and technology that can use data effectively to simplify hybrid manufacturing.
Contact your local Hexagon representative to find out more about how we help customers use hybrid manufacturing to create a more versatile production and maintenance environment.
