Abstract
Consumer demands are moving away from standardized to customized
products, as such, the evolution of alternative manufacturing techniques
has become imperative. Additive manufacturing (AM) is a process of
building components layer by layer as against the traditional methods
which are subtractive in nature. Though AM offers lots of advantages over
traditional manufacturing techniques, its wide application is still however
in the infancy phase. Despite all the benefits derived from AM technology,
there are still a lot of unresolved issues with the technology that has hindered
its performance thereby limiting its application to high tolerant jobs.
This paper takes a look at some important AM technologies, some problems
currently facing AM technology at large and proposes some solutions
to these problems. A major known drawback in AM is poor dimensional
accuracy and poor surface finish, only the layer height and melt pool temperature
are controlled to solve this problem in the literature. The stair-stepping
effect in adaptive manufacturing is rooted in a natural phenomenon
of surface tension which is the cause of the poor surface finish and in combination
with other factors is responsible for the poor dimensional accuracy.
An adaptive controller is proposed for removing stair-stepping effect
to improve the dimension accuracy, the surface finish and the mechanical
properties of the components. Successful implementation of these proposed
controllers will greatly improve the performance of AM technologies
and also aid its wide application for end use products. Further research
work is also suggested to improve the overall AM performance.