Process and Heat Resources for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Aluminium Alloy ER4043: A Review

Abstract

The application of wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) in manufacturing has raised interest among researchers. In this paper, the introduction of additive manufacturing and wire arc additive manufacturing, various heat resources for WAAM, aluminium alloys, aluminium alloys ER4043, and performance evaluation of WAAM of ER4043 have been discussed in detail based on bead geometry, microstructure, microhardness, and tensile properties as well as the building path strategies, problems, and future directions. Based on this review, aluminium alloy 4043 (ER4043) is an Al-Si alloy frequently employed as a filler wire because it has superior fluidity and significantly fewer flaws in additively built structures. Next, dwell time and cooling efficiency during the WAAM process significantly affect bead geometry. Besides, a finer microstructure can be obtained with a better cooling rate. However, a coarser microstructure is obtained along with the increased deposition height due to heat accumulation and low solidification rate. Heat input is identified as the main cause of porosity, and CMT with a lower heat input is preferable and outperformed GTAW and GMAW in terms of mechanical properties.