Study on the Milling of Additive Manufactured Components

Additive manufacturing of components has increased significantly in capacity; additional post-processes are usually required in order to use the components. A milling process is often used to create functional surfaces. The paper shows whether the additive manufacturing process has an influence on the milling process. For this purpose, additive manufacturing processes using powder and laser (SLM), powder and arc (3DPMD), as well as wire and arc (WAAM) of the same material are compared. Based on the microstructure and the different mechanical properties, the component properties are compared with each other and with conventional sheet metal. For this purpose, samples are cut from additively manufactured components and milled under identical conditions. The temperature and the milling forces are measured and evaluated. It is shown that the additive manufacturing process results in significant differences in machinability and that the mechanical properties alone do not provide sufficient information about the machinability.