Mechatronic approach to the design of AM machines

Any manufacturing process which allows to create a product in its finished form without the need for other machining operations belongs to Net Shape Forming family. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a part of NSF family; it allows to build 3D objects by adding layer-upon-layer of material (polymers, metals, ceramics ) and includes different manufacturing techniques as stated by ISO/ASTM Standard. In order to get good results by the application of these techniques, some technological problems has to be faced and solved. They mainly concern: temperature control of the material to be processed, characteristics of the energy source for material transition, control of the power transferred to the material, scanning system’s head control, 3D model’s layer definition, generation of the laser point’s trajectories. The quality of the product strongly depends on all these aspects, that are sinergically linked each other, as well as on the technical solutions to realize them. In other words, the machine implementing the AM technological process is crucial for the product’s manufacturing. From the early stages of machine’s concept, a multidisciplinary and synergic approach which allows to take into account all the different aspects involved in the process must be followed. This is the typical approach followed by Mechatronics which deals with the synergistic application of mechanics, electronics, controls and computer engineering in the development of product and systems through an integrated design approach. In this paper, the fundamental aspects that must be taken into account in the design process of an AM machine are highlighted, and the design approach is discussed.