A model for manufacturing large parts with WAAM technology

Abstract

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is a metallic additive manufacturing process based on the fusion of metallic wire using an electric arc as a heat source. The challenge associated with WAAM is heat management and understanding bead geometry. The printing process involves high temperatures, which results in the build-up of residual stresses can often cause deformations in a component. All of the process variables, such as torch speed (TS), wire feed speed (WFS), idle time, combine to produce the geometry of the deposit bead that results in the desired component shape. So, determining a method for choosing a good combined parameter process is very important to obtain a high-quality part. This article presents a study on how to use the WAAM process to produce a complexity part of aluminium alloys. The step of the determination process parameter is concentrated to develop in this study. An experimental design is determined to study the influence between the process parameters, for example, WFS, TS, high layer, length of bead. Different samples are made using the Yaskawa robot, using the classic CMT (Cold Metal Transfer) as a manufacturing method, using zigzag filling as a manufacturing strategy with the same WFS and same idle times and different TS, different bead lengths. A new manufacturing method using the zigzag filling strategy is proposed by adding an important step in determining the process parameters. The results indicate that the length of the bead has a significant impact on another parameter of the process.