Research on space equidistant path planning algorithm of complex curved surface for arc additive manufacturing

The additive manufacturing based on curved layer is one of the hot spots in current research. Compared with plane path planning, the research of path planning algorithm on complex space surface with arbitrary curvature change is less, especially the equidistant path planning algorithm. In this paper, a path planning algorithm based on voxelization and curve integration is proposed. The precision of the algorithm is controlled and mainly depends on the voxelization density of the model. The algorithm mainly includes voxelization model, calculating the shortest distance from voxel point to source curve, generating additive path. Compared with the scanline method, the algorithm avoids the invalid loop generated by local and global self intersection when translating the path, and improves the computational efficiency. Finally, three typical curved surfaces are selected for curved surface equidistant path planning, including sample curved surface, cylindrical surface and B-spline surface, to prove the applicability of the algorithm. The verification test of curved surface layered GMAW arc additive is carried out on the cylinder specimen. Planning and experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has enough accuracy for GMAW arc additive.