AdditiveManufacturingInsight.com May 2015 — 9
On this impeller, blade tips of a different material from the rest of the blade
have been added using the additive head. The machine tool can then swap in
a milling cutter to machine these new tips fush with the rest of the blade.
Manufacturers serving the oil and gas industry
see the Hybrid head as a potentially easy way to
add features made of a hard metal onto a shaft
made of some different material.
The potential range of applications is what
Mazak had in mind in adding this capability to
its Integrex machine. Indeed, the company has
said it sees additive manufacturing as the logical
extension of multitasking—another capability to
add to machines designed to do as much work
as possible in one setup. Mazak is bringing its
own additive-equipped machine to market slow-
ly, aiming to support and assist its customers as
they fnd winning applications for the capability.
That is, rather than targeting a particular market,
this machine tool builder is proceeding with the
assumption that no one yet knows where the
most effective applications of hybrid manufactur-
ing will be found, but that its customers are likely
to fnd them.