Development of a Multidirectional Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) Process with Pure Object Manipulation: Process Introduction and First Prototypes

Abstract

Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) with eccentric wire feed requires defined operating conditions due to the possibility of varying shapes of the deposited and solidified material depending on the welding torch orientation. In consequence, the produced component can contain significant errors because single bead geometrical errors are cumulatively added to the next layer during a building process. In order to minimise such inaccuracies caused by torch manipulation, this article illustrates the concept and testing of object-manipulated WAAM by incorporating robotic and welding technologies. As the first step towards this target, robotic hardware and software interfaces were developed to control the robot. Alongside, a fixture for holding the substrate plate was designed and fabricated. After establishing the robotic setup, in order to complete the whole WAAM process setup, a Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process was built and integrated into the system. Later, an experimental plan was prepared to perform single and multilayer welding experiments as well as for different trajectories. According to this plan, several welding experiments were performed to decide the parametric working range for the further WAAM experiments. In the end, the results of the first multilayer depositions over intricate trajectories are shown. Further performance and quality optimization strategies are also discussed at the end of this article.

Research of the influence of the use of a feedback telecommunication system on the wire arc additive manufacturing process

“…Uncontrolled heat impact can not only result in a deterioration of the quality of the produced part but may also lead to its complete destruction. To achieve proper temperature control, it is possible to use preliminary simulations and optimize the robotic arm's motion trajectory during the additive manufacturing process [16]. Computer computational programs for modeling the thermal regime of printing using arc welding can employ heat propagation equations based on the Goldak model.…”

Variable Layer Heights in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing and WAAM Information Models

“…To build these structures with planar slicing, robotic cells integrate additional positioning axes for rotating the workpiece to custom orientations. Additional planar layers are then printed in the 1G welding position [11] as shown in Figure 2. One limitation of this approach is the constraint of the build area that comes with the additional positioning axes, as the workpiece is reoriented between printed sections.…”

Wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminium alloys for aerospace and automotive applications: A review

“…The experimental results showed that surface roughness has a significant effect on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of internal through-hole detection, and surface waviness has a significant effect on the sensitivity of superficial crack detection. In one study, Parmar et al [123] stated that the single-bead geometrical errors produced during the building process of the next layer of material in WAAM can be minimised by incorporating robotic and welding technologies. Xia et al [124] investigated the anomalies generated during the deposition process, such as humping, spattering, and robot suspending.…”

“…In one study, Parmar et al. [123] stated that the single-bead geometrical errors produced during the building process of the next layer of material in WAAM can be minimised by incorporating robotic and welding technologies. Xia et al.…”