A Slicing Procedure for 5-Axis layered Manufacturing

The 5-axis layered manufacturing technology facilitates fabrication of a part with overhanging features without the use of supports, thereby making a direct-to-use part from the layered manufacturing technology a reality. In this paper we describe a direct slicing procedure for a CAD model, a crucial process planning task for the 5-axis layered manufacturing. The neutral exchange format IGES is used as the slice format. The G and M codes for a CNC 5-axis laser deposition machine are generated from the slice format and the deposition process is simulated. Implemented examples are included to explain the slicing procedure. Exciting possibilities for the future work on the slicing procedure are discussed.