CAM system for 5-axis 3D printer with milling function

Our customer is one of the market leaders in mechanical engineering and metal industry automation. The company designed a new model of a 5-axis 3D printer and reached out to Rubius to develop a CAM system for it.

The printer combines additive and subtractive production. To print metal parts, Laser Engineered Net Shaping technology is used. Once printing is finished, the extruder is replaced by a milling tool for post-processing. With 5-axis kinematics, the printer can rotate the model and print or machine layers at a free angle. The dimensions of the finished product are 1×2×2 meters, while the size of the build plate can be extended with rails.

The developed CAM system considers the printer form factor and controls the entire process of metal parts production.

System capabilities:

• slicing of the 3D model into layers at any angle
• automatic calculation of the overload areas and support generation
• generation of 5-axis printing trajectories based on printer kinematics and metal properties
• printing randomization to prevent overheating and detail distortion
• classic 5-axis final machining
• combination of printing and machining cycles into a single control program
• g-code simulation, detection of collisions and possible distortions
• comparison of a point cloud with the original 3D model for printing quality control
• automatic correction of final machining G-code based on the quality analysis report

The CAM system allows using one machine for additive and subtractive production and ensures high-quality and fast printing. Products don’t get distorted when printing, possible collisions are detected during G-code simulation, while final machining allows bringing geometry to perfection. As a result, users receive the exact copy of the original 3D model.