scholarly journals Analysis of Favorable Process Conditions for the Manufacturing of Thin-Wall Pieces of Mild Steel Obtained by Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM)

Materials ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1449 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Prado-Cerqueira ◽  
Ana Camacho ◽  
José Diéguez ◽  
Álvaro Rodríguez-Prieto ◽  
Ana Aragón ◽  
...  

One of the challenges in additive manufacturing (AM) of metallic materials is to obtain workpieces free of defects with excellent physical, mechanical, and metallurgical properties. In wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) the influences of process conditions on thermal history, microstructure and resultant mechanical and surface properties of parts must be analyzed. In this work, 3D metallic parts of mild steel wire (American Welding Society-AWS ER70S-6) are built with a WAAM process by depositing layers of material on a substrate of a S235 JR steel sheet of 3 mm thickness under different process conditions, using as welding process the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) with cold metal transfer (CMT) technology, combined with a positioning system such as a computer numerical controlled (CNC) milling machine. Considering the hardness profiles, the estimated ultimate tensile strengths (UTS) derived from the hardness measurements and the microstructure findings, it can be concluded that the most favorable process conditions are the ones provided by CMT, with homogeneous hardness profiles, good mechanical strengths in accordance to conditions defined by standard, and without formation of a decohesionated external layer; CMT Continuous is the optimal option as the mechanical properties are better than single CMT.

Metals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel Graf ◽  
Andre Hälsig ◽  
Kevin Höfer ◽  
Birgit Awiszus ◽  
Peter Mayr

Additive manufacturing processes have been investigated for some years, and are commonly used industrially in the field of plastics for small- and medium-sized series. The use of metallic deposition material has been intensively studied on the laboratory scale, but the numerical prediction is not yet state of the art. This paper examines numerical approaches for predicting temperature fields, distortions, and mechanical properties using the Finite Element (FE) software MSC Marc. For process mapping, the filler materials G4Si1 (1.5130) for steel, and AZ31 for magnesium, were first characterized in terms of thermo-physical and thermo-mechanical properties with process-relevant cast microstructure. These material parameters are necessary for a detailed thermo-mechanical coupled Finite Element Method (FEM). The focus of the investigations was on the numerical analysis of the influence of the wire feed (2.5–5.0 m/min) and the weld path orientation (unidirectional or continuous) on the temperature evolution for multi-layered walls of miscellaneous materials. For the calibration of the numerical model, the real welding experiments were carried out using the gas-metal arc-welding process—cold metal transfer (CMT) technology. A uniform wall geometry can be produced with a continuous welding path, because a more homogeneous temperature distribution results.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 135-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Addanki Ramaswamy ◽  
Sudersanan Malarvizhi ◽  
Visvalingam Balasubramanian

AbstractAluminium alloys of 6xxx series are widely used in the fabrication of light weight structures especially, where high strength to weight ratio and excellent weld-ability characteristics are desirable. Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is the most predominantly used welding process in many industries due to the ease of automation. In this investigation, an attempt has been made to identify the best variant of GMAW process to overcome the problems like alloy segregation, precipitate dissolution and heat affected zone (HAZ) softening. Thin sheets of AA6061-T6 alloy were welded by cold metal transfer (CMT) and Pulsed CMT (PCMT). Among the two joints, the joint made by PCMT technique exhibited superior tensile properties due to the mechanical stirring action in the weld pool caused by forward and rearward movement of the wire along with the controllable diffusion rate at the interface caused by shorter solidification time. However, softening still exists in the welded joints. Further to increase the joint efficiency and to minimize HAZ softening, the joints were subjected to post weld heat treatment (PWHT). Approximately 10% improvement in the tensile properties had been observed in the PWHT joints due to the nucleation of strengthening precipitates in the weld metal and HAZ.


Metals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 513
Author(s):  
Jae Won Kim ◽  
Jae-Deuk Kim ◽  
Jooyoung Cheon ◽  
Changwook Ji

This study observed the effect of filler metal type on mechanical properties of NAB (NiAl-bronze) material fabricated using wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology. The selection of filler metal type is must consider the field condition, mechanical properties required by customers, and economics. This study analyzed the bead shape for representative two kind of filler metal types use to maintenance and fabricated a two-dimensional bulk NAB material. The cold metal transfer (CMT) mode of gas metal arc welding (GMAW) was used. For a comparison of mechanical properties, the study obtained three specimens per welding direction from the fabricated bulk NAB material. In the tensile test, the NAB material deposited using filler metal wire A showed higher tensile strength and lower elongation (approx. +71 MPa yield strength, +107.1 MPa ultimate tensile strength, −12.4% elongation) than that deposited with filler metal wire B. The reason is that, a mixture of tangled fine α platelets and dense lamellar eutectoid α + κIII structure with β´ phases was observed in the wall made with filler metal wire A. On the other hand, the wall made with filler metal wire B was dominated by coarse α phases and lamellar eutectoid α + κIII structure in between.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuewei Fang ◽  
Guopeng Chen ◽  
Jiannan Yang ◽  
Yang Xie ◽  
Ke Huang ◽  
...  

High-strength 7xxx series aluminum alloys are of great importance for the aerospace industries. However, this type of aluminum alloys has poor processability for most additive manufacturing techniques. In this paper, a newly designed Al–Zn–Mg alloy was used as a feeding wire to fabricate thin wall-shaped samples using the wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technique. These samples were fabricated based on the cold metal transfer (CMT) process with four different types of arc modes, that is, CMT, CMT-incorporated pulse (CMT + P), CMT-incorporated polarity (CMT + A), CMT-incorporated pulse and polarity (CMT + PA). The optical microscopy, x-ray computed tomography, and scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) were employed to characterize the microstructure and phase constitution. The results clearly reveal that the porosity varies with the arc modes, and the densest sample with porosity of 0.97% was obtained using the CMT + P mode. The mechanical properties of the fabricated samples are also dependent on the arc modes. The tensile strength and yield strength of the sample manufactured by the CMT + PA arc mode are the highest. In terms of anisotropy, the strength differences in horizontal and vertical direction of the samples made by CMT + PA, CMT + A, and CMT modes are all large, which is mainly ascribed to the pores distributed at the interlayer region.


Metals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Köhler ◽  
Sierk Fiebig ◽  
Jonas Hensel ◽  
Klaus Dilger

An increasing demand for flexibility and product integration, combined with reduced product development cycles, leads to continuous development of new manufacturing technologies such as additive manufacturing. Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) provides promising technology for the near net-shape production of large structures with complex geometry, using cost efficient production resources such as arc welding technology and wire materials. Compared to powder-based additive manufacturing processes, WAAM offers high deposition rates as well as enhanced material utilization. Because of the layer-by-layer built up approach, process conditions such as energy input, arc characteristics, and material composition result in a different processability during the additive manufacturing process. This experimental study aims to describe the effects of the welding process on buildup accuracy and material properties during wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminum structures. Following a process development using pulse cold metal transfer (CMT-P), linear wall samples were manufactured with variations of the filler metal. The samples were analyzed in terms of surface finishing, hardness, and residual stress. Furthermore, mechanical properties were determined in different building directions.


Metals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 952
Author(s):  
Markus Köhler ◽  
Jonas Hensel ◽  
Klaus Dilger

Wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) provides a promising alternative to conventional machining for the production of large structures with complex geometry, as well as individualized low quantity components, using cost-efficient production resources. Due to the layer-by-layer build-up approach, process conditions, such as energy input, deposition patterns and heat conduction during the additive manufacturing process result in a unique thermal history of the structure, affecting the build-up properties. This experimental study aims to describe the effects of thermal cycling on the geometrical and material properties of wire arc additive manufactured Al-5356 aluminum alloy. Under consideration, that Al-5356 is a non-heat treatable alloy, a significant effect on geometrical formation is expected. Linear wall samples were manufactured using pulsed cold metal transfer (CMT-P) under variation of wire-feed rate, travel speed and interpass temperatures. The samples were analyzed in terms of geometry; microstructural composition; hardness and residual stress. Furthermore, the mechanical properties were determined in different building directions.


2021 ◽  
pp. 102203
Author(s):  
Runsheng Li ◽  
Guilan Wang ◽  
Xushan Zhao ◽  
Fusheng Dai ◽  
Cheng Huang ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
HaiYang Lei ◽  
YongBing Li ◽  
Blair E. Carlson ◽  
ZhongQin Lin

In order to meet the upcoming regulations on greenhouse gas emissions, aluminum use in the automotive industry is increasing. However, this increase is now seen as part of a multimaterial strategy. Consequently, dissimilar material joints are a reality, which poses significant challenges to conventional fusion joining processes. To address this issue, cold metal transfer (CMT) spot welding process was developed in the current study to join aluminum alloy AA6061-T6 as the top sheet to hot dip galvanized (HDG) advanced high strength steel (AHSS) DP590 as the bottom sheet. Three different welding modes, i.e., direct welding (DW) mode, plug welding (PW) mode, and edge plug welding (EPW) mode were proposed and investigated. The DW mode, having no predrilled hole in the aluminum top sheet, required concentrated heat input to melt through the Al top sheet and resulted in a severe tearing fracture, shrinkage voids, and uneven intermetallic compounds (IMC) layer along the faying surface, leading to poor joint properties. Welding with the predrilled hole, PW mode, required significantly less heat input and led to greatly reduced, albeit uneven, IMC layer thickness. However, it was found that the EPW mode could homogenize the welding heat input into the hole and thus produce the most stable welding process and best joint quality. This led to joints having an excellent joint morphology characterized by the thinnest IMC layer and consequently, best mechanical performance among the three modes.


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