Enhancing surface quality and accuracy in hybrid incremental sheet forming and wire-arc directed energy deposition: A focus on path planning and reconfigurable support

Double-sided incremental forming (DSIF) and metal additive manufacturing (MAM) are two of the most flexible processes that do not require geometry-specific tooling for producing customized and complex metal parts. The synergistic hybridization of DSIF and wire-arc directed energy deposition (WDED) offers a promising approach to enhance product complexity. In this hybrid approach, non-planar substrates are formed using DSIF, while planar and/or non-planar deposition is performed using WDED to fabricate components more efficiently and cost-effectively. Although this hybridization significantly reduces the need for support structures, critical aspects of surface quality and accuracy have not been studied. Surface quality depends on bead profiles and the distance between adjacent beads. In the present work, a methodology based on bead overlap is developed and validated to predict the distance between adjacent beads, aiming to minimize variation in layer height while considering process and geometrical parameters. Deposition on thin, non-flat substrates leads to significant geometrical variations due to thermal stresses, causing component inaccuracies. The use of reconfigurable support is proposed to minimize substrate deformation during deposition, and this approach is validated. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology and the importance of using reconfigurable support are demonstrated by successfully fabricating three different geometries using the Hybrid Deformation Aided Additive Manufacturing (HyDAM). Results indicate that components fabricated using the proposed overlap methodology and reconfigurable support have enhanced surface quality and improved accuracy.