Amorphology and Additive Technologies (AddiTec) are working together to develop additively manufactured steel strain wave gear flexsplines.
Strain wave gears are a compact and zero backlash gearbox used in robotic arms and precision-motion mechanisms to transmit torque through a gear thin-walled cup, hat or band called a flexspline. Because of their complexity, strain wave gears often account for a substantial portion of the cost of a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm.
Through their collaboration, Amorphology and AddiTec have developed a 6-inch diameter prototype of a strain wave gear flexspline printed in high-performance 17-4 precipitation hardened steel with Meltio’s laser metal deposition technology – AddiTec is a founding partner of Meltio. The printed part is then CNC machined into the precision shape. Amorphology and AddiTec believe this process could enable flexible and on-time production of large flexsplines, and intend to expand their partnership to multi-material and functionally graded material flexsplines which can’t be produced conventionally.
“When you look at machining of flexsplines that are 6 to 8 inches in diameter, the large steel feedstock may be reduced to as little as 10% of its original volume. This is a detriment from both cost and sustainability standpoint, as energy and material are wasted to produce a part which is a shell of the original stock,” commented Amorphology CTO Dr Glenn Garrett. “Additive manufacturing becomes a promising alternative since the machining costs can be potentially dramatically reduced while allowing for the cost-effective use of high-performance steels.”
AddiTec CEO Brian Matthews added: “AddiTec uses Meltio’s laser metal deposition with wire and/or powder (LMD-WP) technology. In LMD-WP process, lasers create a melt pool in which wire and/or powder is fed to create weld beads. These weld beads are then layered precisely to fabricate near-net shaped metal components. This technology can be used to create components from a CAD design or for part repair. In addition, the ability to integrate with a CNC machine makes it a hybrid system. Hybrid manufacturing is a ‘one-stop solution’ for seamless metal component production – it combines both additive and subtractive operation on one common platform, thereby reducing the overall cost and time for fabricating components.”
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