Looking for Minimum Conditions for Ff-tlom Cutting, Based on Equal Blade Tangencies at Both Layer Contours

The Freeform Thick Layered Object Manufacturing (FF-TLOM) process is very suitable for the production of very large objects. The technology is based on flexible blade cutting of thick foam layers, which are stacked to create a physical model. Positioning the tool under accurate cutting constraints is a complex and difficult task, since the tool setting is controlled by 6 degrees of freedom. The tool setting in combination with the blade matching with the required shape can be performed in many ways. In this paper the tool path is explored for convex and concave layer contours. Circle arcs approximate the contours, the circle arcs are combined into cone surfaces, the cone conditions are applied for feasible orientations of a straight tool. The orientation of the tool is fixed, next the flexible blade curve is matched with the local nominal shape curve and finally the tool position needs a correction. The manufacturing preparation is easy to perform for these cases. It is a method, which supports optimal flexible blade cutting, however, this method is not applicable in all cases.