WAAM Application for EPC Company

Abstract

WAAM ( Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing) is a process of adding material layer by layer in order to build a near net shape components. It shows a further promising future for fabricating large expensive metal components with complex geometry. Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) company as one of the industrial section which related with engineering design and products, wide range of material type, and shop based or site based manufacturing process have been dealing with conventional manufacturing and procurement process in order to fulfill its requirement for custom parts and items for the project completion purpose. During the conventional process, there is a risk during the transportation of the products from the manufacturing shop to then site project, this risk is even greater when the delivery time take part as one of the essential part which affect the project schedule. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing process offering an alternative process to shorten the delivery time and process for a selected material and engineered items, with the consideration of essential variables which can affect the final products of WAAM process, such as : heat input, wire feed speed, travel speed, shielding gas, welding process and robotic system applied. In this paper, the possibilities of WAAM application in EPC company will be assessed, an in depth literature review of the various process which possible to applied, include the loss and benefit compared with conventional method will be presented. The main objective is to identify the current challenge and the prospect of WAAM application in EPC company.