A novel methodology of design for Additive Manufacturing applied to Additive Laser Manufacturing process

• A new generic Design for Additive Manufacturing methodology is detailed.
• Experiments were conducted to define rules for Additive Laser Manufacturing (ALM).
• A modelling of an ALM process is detailed to simulate the real deposit geometry.
• The proposed methodology is applied to design a thin-walled turbine blade.

Nowadays, due to rapid prototyping processes improvements, a functional metal part can be built directly by Additive Manufacturing. It is now accepted that these new processes can increase productivity while enabling a mass and cost reduction and an increase of the parts functionality. However, the physical phenomena that occur during these processes have a strong impact on the quality of the produced parts. Especially, because the manufacturing paths used to produce the parts lead these physical phenomena, it is essential to considerate them right from the parts design stage. In this context, a new numerical chain based on a new design for Additive Manufacturing (DFAM) methodology is proposed in this paper, the new DFAM methodology being detailed; both design requirements and manufacturing specificities are taken into account. The corresponding numerical tools are detailed in the particular case of thin-walled metal parts manufactured by an Additive Laser Manufacturing (ALM) process.