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Additive and hybrid technologies

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Metal 3D printing

The collaboration between the Institute of Manufacturing Machines and Equipment (RCMT) of the CTU Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and the engineering company Kovosvit MAS Machine Tools produced a concrete result: an original metal 3D-printing technology in the Hybrid Manufacturing category. The jointly developed WeldPrint 5AX prototype, thanks to the applied technology, enables creating metal parts by electric-arc deposition (wire-arc build-up) and machining them in a single workspace.

The goal was to create the technology, machine, and software to process common engineering materials, targeting a cost for steel parts of about CZK 3,000 per kg—several times cheaper than hybrid machines with laser cladding or powder-bed sintering systems. The technology uses materials available as welding wire, covering a much broader range of processable materials than powders used in laser technologies.

Deposition and machining in a single workspace

The hybrid technology targets the processing of common steels. The WeldPrint machine can also be used for partial build-up welding and welding at overall low cost, or for unrestricted five-axis milling—just like a standard CNC machine tool. Offered primarily with the machine, the hybrid technology combines deposition with inter-operation machining, making it suitable for processing standard structural materials in mainstream engineering—toolmaking, power-generation equipment, defense applications, transport, prototyping, and repair/overhaul.

The advantages of HM technology stand out for geometrically complex parts that would otherwise involve removing large volumes of material—for example, ship propellers, Francis turbines, and some mold components. The WeldPrint 5AX can process—that is, build, weld, and machine—parts up to 400 kg, a maximum diameter of 520 mm, and a maximum height (from the table clamping surface) of 475 mm.

Application areas of HM technology

In machining today, semi-finished stock is typically viewed statically—as just a piece of material. Hybrid technology changes this traditional view and enables new principles of part manufacture that were hard to imagine not long ago. HM technology treats the workpiece blank as a dynamic, evolving object. This shift fundamentally affects NC-programming strategy and opens new possibilities—as well as requirements—for machine programming and for the technologists’ own workflows.

From a customer perspective, today’s hybrid technology is particularly attractive in the repair/overhaul sector for part refurbishment, where multiple operations can be combined into a single process. Thanks to extensive control of deposition parameters and the HM process, repairs are feasible even on very thin walls about 3–5 mm wide. Fully programmatic control with continuous parameter monitoring reduces human influence during deposition and welding, ensuring stable part quality.

Hybrid technology in manufacturing practice

In general, the machine allows machining, build-up welding, and welding, in any order. These operations can be selected and used at any point in the NC code. The portfolio of potential applications is quite broad. Further R&D will focus on specific applications, materials, geometries, sizes, and other boundary conditions that industry demands.

Core technological elements include creating shells, solid volumes, internal channels and cavities, reinforcing internal lattices, and external support structures.

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