Development of five-axis laser cutting system for the tangent cutting solid freeform fabrication system

A five-axis laser cutting system has been developed for the solid freeform fabrication system, which makes products by laser cutting, stacking, laminating, and sintering layers. The solid freeform fabrication system uses metal or ceramic powder tapes as well as polymer thin slabs. In order to remove staircase effects at the side of products, the tangent cutting concept is introduced. The laser is fixed in space, and the metal tape on the cutting table is moved in five axes. An X-Y table transfers horizontally the contour at the focal point of the laser beam. A roll and pitch rotation component makes the laser beam irradiate tangentially on the side of tape. A z-axis actuator keeps the distance between the lens and tape constant. By this system, the laser beam can be irradiated at any location of the tape with any desired angle. An algorithm that generates smooth laser cutting trajectory is developed. By applying the simulated annealing, the laser beam trajectory can be optimized even for the complicated contour.