Session: 03-08 Metals: New Processing Methods

Paper Number: 94078

94078 - A Multi-Energy Source Process for High Deposition Rate and Near-Net-Shape Additive Manufacturing 

Wire + arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a cost-effective additive manufacturing (AM) technology for building large-scale metal components. However, there is a trade-off between the deposition rate and quality. This is because at a high deposition rate it is difficult to control the melt pool with high heat input and large layer height, resulting in high surface waviness and low dimensional accuracy of the deposited components. Therefore, in this study, a multi-energy source (MES) configuration with a plasma transferred arc (PTA) and a laser was developed to combine the advantages of the two heat sources and thus to achieve both high deposition rates and near-net-shape.  It was found that the optimum setup configuration is the PTA leading combined with the front feeding of the wire, giving a high deposition rate and high process tolerance. By using the PTA to melt the wire and the laser to reshape the melt pool, the deposition rate and bead shape can be controlled independently. The control algorithm for the bead shape was also obtained, enabling the selection of different process parameters to achieve the required bead shapes. The main limitation of this MES process is the relatively high remelting into the underlying layer. To overcome this, an updated MES with more evenly distributed energy has been proposed.

Presenting Author: Chong Wang Cranfield University

Presenting Author Biography: Chong Wang is currently a research fellow in additive manufacturing at Cranfield University. He obtained his PhD degree from Cranfield University in 2021. His research area is mainly focused on process development for wire-based metal additive manufacturing, trying to achieve defect-free and structurally-sound components with high deposition rates and near-net-shape.

Authors: