Project description:In wire arc additive manufacturing of Ti-alloy parts (Ti-WAAM) gas metal arc welding (GMAW) can be applied for complex parts printing. However, due to the specific properties of Ti, GMAW of Ti-alloys is complicated. In this work, three different types of metal transfer modes during Ti-WAAM were investigated: Cold Metal Transfer, controlled short circuiting metal transfer, and self-regulated metal transfer at a direct current with a negative electrode. Metal transfer modes were studied using captured waveform and high-speed video analysis. Using these modes, three walls were manufactured; the geometry preservation stability was estimated and compared using effective wall width calculation, the microstructure was analyzed using optical microscopy. Transfer process data showed that arc wandering depends not only on cathode spot instabilities, but also on anode processing properties. Microstructure analysis showed that each produced wall consists of phases and structures inherent for Ti-WAAM. α-basketweave in the center of and α-colony on the grain boundary of epitaxially grown β-grains were found with heat affected zone bands along the height of the walls, so that the microstructure did not depend on metal transfer dramatically. However, the geometry preservation stability was higher in the wall, produced with controlled short circuiting metal transfer.
Project description:Internal flow behaviour during melt-pool-based metal manufacturing remains unclear and hinders progression to process optimisation. In this contribution, we present direct time-resolved imaging of melt pool flow dynamics from a high-energy synchrotron radiation experiment. We track internal flow streams during arc welding of steel and measure instantaneous flow velocities ranging from 0.1 m s-1 to 0.5 m s-1. When the temperature-dependent surface tension coefficient is negative, bulk turbulence is the main flow mechanism and the critical velocity for surface turbulence is below the limits identified in previous theoretical studies. When the alloy exhibits a positive temperature-dependent surface tension coefficient, surface turbulence occurs and derisory oxides can be entrapped within the subsequent solid as result of higher flow velocities. The widely used arc welding and the emerging arc additive manufacturing routes can be optimised by controlling internal melt flow through adjusting surface active elements.
Project description:Cast nickel aluminum bronze (NAB) alloy is widely used for large engineering components in marine applications due to its excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Casting porosity, as well as coarse microstructure, however, are accompanied by a decrease in mechanical properties of cast NAB components. Although heat treatment, friction stir processing, and fusion welding were implemented to eliminate porosity, improve mechanical properties, and refine the microstructure of as-cast metal, their applications are limited to either surface modification or component repair. Instead of traditional casting techniques, this study focuses on developing NAB components using recently expanded wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). Consumable welding wire is melted and deposited layer-by-layer on substrates producing near-net shaped NAB components. Additively-manufactured NAB components without post-processing are fully dense, and exhibit fine microstructure, as well as comparable mechanical properties, to as-cast NAB alloy. The effects of heat input from the welding process and post-weld-heat-treatment (PWHT) are shown to give uniform NAB alloys with superior mechanical properties revealing potential marine applications of the WAAM technique in NAB production.
Project description:Bimetallic wire arc additive manufacturing (AM) has traditionally been limited to depositions characterized by single planar interfaces. This study demonstrates a more complex radial interface concept, with in situ mechanical interlocking and as-built properties suggesting a prestressed compressive effect. A 308 L stainless core is surrounded by a mild steel casing, incrementally maintaining the interface throughout the Z-direction. A small difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between these steels creates residual stresses at their interface. X-ray diffraction analysis confirms phase purity and microstructural characterization reveals columnar grain growth independent of layer transitions. Hardness values are consistent with thermal dissipation characteristics, and the compressive strength of the bimetallic structures shows a 33% to 42% improvement over monolithic controls. Our results demonstrate that biomimetic radial bimetallic variation is feasible with improved mechanical response over monolithic compositions, providing a basis for advanced structural design and implementation using arc-based metal AM.
Project description:Ever-increasing demands of industrial manufacturing regarding mechanical properties require the development of novel alloys designed towards the respective manufacturing process. Here, we consider wire arc additive manufacturing. To this end, Al alloys with additions of Zn, Mg and Cu have been designed considering the requirements of good mechanical properties and limited hot cracking susceptibility. The samples were produced using the cold metal transfer pulse advanced (CMT-PADV) technique, known for its ability to produce lower porosity parts with smaller grain size. After material simulations to determine the optimal heat treatment, the samples were solution heat treated, quenched and aged to enhance their mechanical performance. Chemical analysis, mechanical properties and microstructure evolution were evaluated using optical light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence analysis and X-ray radiography, as well as tensile, fatigue and hardness tests. The objective of this research was to evaluate in detail the mechanical properties and microstructure of the newly designed high-performance Al-Zn-based alloy before and after ageing heat treatment. The only defects found in the parts built under optimised conditions were small dispersed porosities, without any visible cracks or lack of fusion. Furthermore, the mechanical properties are superior to those of commercial 7xxx alloys and remarkably independent of the testing direction (parallel or perpendicular to the deposit beads). The presented analyses are very promising regarding additive manufacturing of high-strength aluminium alloys.
Project description:In wire arc additive manufacturing (AM), as in arc welding, arc heat thermally deforms substrates and articles. For industrial applications, deformation characteristics of various materials must be understood and appropriate materials and methods of reducing deformation must be devised. Therefore, angular distortions of different materials were investigated through bead-on-plate welding and finite element analysis. A model that simplifies temperature-dependent properties was developed to establish relationships between thermomechanical properties and angular distortion. A simplified model of temperature-dependent properties was used, and angular distortion characteristics were extensively investigated for different material properties and heat inputs. Coefficient of thermal expansion, density, and specific heat all notably affected angular distortion depending on heat input conditions. Results showed that during wire arc AM, flatness of both substrates and articles could vary depending on material properties, heat input, substrate thickness, and bead accumulation. Study findings can provide insight into deformation characteristics of new materials and how to mitigate thermal distortions.
Project description:Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) offers a potential approach to fabricate large-scale magnesium alloy components with low cost and high efficiency, although this topic is yet to be reported in literature. In this study, WAAM is preliminarily applied to fabricate AZ31 magnesium. Fully dense AZ31 magnesium alloy components are successfully obtained. Meanwhile, to refine grains and obtain good mechanical properties, the effects of pulse frequency (1, 2, 5, 10, 100, and 500 Hz) on the macrostructure, microstructure and tensile properties are investigated. The results indicate that pulse frequency can result in the change of weld pool oscillations and cooling rate. This further leads to the change of the grain size, grain shape, as well as the tensile properties. Meanwhile, due to the resonance of the weld pool at 5 Hz and 10 Hz, the samples have poor geometry accuracy but contain finer equiaxed grains (21 μm) and exhibit higher ultimate tensile strength (260 MPa) and yield strength (102 MPa), which are similar to those of the forged AZ31 alloy. Moreover, the elongation of all samples is above 23%.
Project description:Electron beam freeform fabrication is a wire feed direct energy deposition additive manufacturing process, where the vacuum condition ensures excellent shielding against the atmosphere and enables processing of highly reactive materials. In this work, this technique is applied for the α + β-titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V to determine suitable process parameter for robust building. The correlation between dimensions and the dilution of single beads based on selected process parameters, leads to an overlapping distance in the range of 70%-75% of the bead width, resulting in a multi-bead layer with a uniform height and with a linear build-up rate. Moreover, the stacking of layers with different numbers of tracks using an alternating symmetric welding sequence allows the manufacturing of simple structures like walls and blocks. Microscopy investigations reveal that the primary structure consists of epitaxial grown columnar prior β-grains, with some randomly scattered macro and micropores. The developed microstructure consists of a mixture of martensitic and finer α-lamellar structure with a moderate and uniform hardness of 334 HV, an ultimate tensile strength of 953 MPa and rather low fracture elongation of 4.5%. A subsequent stress relief heat treatment leads to a uniform hardness distribution and an extended fracture elongation of 9.5%, with a decrease of the ultimate strength to 881 MPa due to the fine α-lamellar structure produced during the heat treatment. Residual stresses measured by energy dispersive X-ray diffraction shows after deposition 200-450 MPa in tension in the longitudinal direction, while the stresses reach almost zero when the stress relief treatment is carried out.
Project description:Lightweight materials are of paramount importance to reduce energy consumption and emissions in today's society. For materials to qualify for widespread use in lightweight structural assembly, they must be weldable or joinable, which has been a long-standing issue for high strength aluminum alloys, such as 7075 (AA7075) due to their hot crack susceptibility during fusion welding. Here, we show that AA7075 can be safely arc welded without hot cracks by introducing nanoparticle-enabled phase control during welding. Joints welded with an AA7075 filler rod containing TiC nanoparticles not only exhibit fine globular grains and a modified secondary phase, both which intrinsically eliminate the materials hot crack susceptibility, but moreover show exceptional tensile strength in both as-welded and post-weld heat-treated conditions. This rather simple twist to the filler material of a fusion weld could be generally applied to a wide range of hot crack susceptible materials.
Project description:While laser-printed metals do not tend to match the mechanical properties and thermal stability of conventionally-processed metals, incorporating and dispersing nanoparticles in them should enhance their performance. However, this remains difficult to do during laser additive manufacturing. Here, we show that aluminum reinforced by nanoparticles can be deposited layer-by-layer via laser melting of nanocomposite powders, which enhance the laser absorption by almost one order of magnitude compared to pure aluminum powders. The laser printed nanocomposite delivers a yield strength of up to 1000 MPa, plasticity over 10%, and Young's modulus of approximately 200 GPa, offering one of the highest specific Young's modulus and specific yield strengths among structural metals, as well as an improved specific strength and thermal stability up to 400 °C compared to other aluminum-based materials. The improved performance is attributed to a high density of well-dispersed nanoparticles, strong interfacial bonding between nanoparticles and Al matrix, and ultrafine grain sizes.