Numerical and experimental analysis of product development by composite metal foil manufacturing

The paper presents a new additive manufacturing process for the production of high quality metal parts using metal foil and is termed as Composite Metal Foil Manufacturing. It is a blend of Laminated Object Manufacturing and soldering/brazing strategies. A calculated model of a machine in view of the new process has been outlined and its parts accepted for usefulness either by experimentation or recreations. The advantages of the process include simplicity and flexibility in operation combined with strong and high quality resulting metal parts. The product development has two stages -- the principles of Laminated Object Manufacturing for cutting and stacking of foils and brazing for joining. A 300W MIYACHI fibre laser is used for cutting of metal foils. The foils are coated with a special brazing paste, 80% zinc and 20% aluminium by weight, with the use of 710 applicator. The thickness is measured at every instance with two Microtrak™ 3 TGS on either side of the build platform. The cutting process produce heat that melts the brazing paste at the edges of the foils and allow them to stay in alignment. It makes moving the part onto the heating plates easy for final joining. The heated plates apply heat and pressure to ensure proper bonding of the foils. In this paper, the process is described as a whole with detailed explanation of every component and their functionality. Furthermore, some results of investigations on the sub-processes; laser cutting, final joining and transient thermal analysis are shown.