A study on power-controlled wire-arc additive manufacturing using a data-driven surrogate model

• DOI: 10.1007/s00170-021-07358-y
• Publication Date: 2021-06-22T13:02:47Z
• Authors: Rameez Israr; Johannes Buhl; Markus Bambach
• Keywords: 0209 industrial biotechnology; 0203 mechanical engineering; Wire-arc additive manufacturing; Numerical analysis; Experimental investigation; Welding parameters; Welding power; Weld-bead size; Heat accumulation; Pause time; Experimental investigation; Pause time; Welding parameters; Heat accumulation; 02 engineering and technology; Wire-arc additive manufacturing; Weld-bead size; Welding power; 7. Clean energy; Numerical analysis

AbstractWire-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) provides an alternative for the production of various metal products needed in medium to large batch sizes due to its high deposition rates. However, the cyclic heat input in WAAM may cause local overheating. To avoid adverse effects on the performance of the part, interlayer dwelling and active cooling are used, but these measures increase the process time. Alternatively, the temperature during the WAAM process could be controlled by optimizing the welding power. The present work aims at introducing and implementing a novel temperature management approach by adjusting the weld-bead cross-section along with the welding power to reduce the heat accumulation in the WAAM process. The temperature evolution during welding of weld beads of different cross-sections is investigated and a database of the relation between optimal welding power for beads of various sizes and different pre-heating temperatures was established. The numerical results are validated experimentally with a block-shaped geometry. The results show that by the proposed method, the test shape made was welded with lower energy consumption and process time as compared to conventional constant-power WAAM. The proposed approach efficiently manages the thermal input and reduces the need for pausing the process. Hence, the defects related to heat accumulation might be reduced, and the process efficiency increased.