Abstract
Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is a fusion- and wire-based additive manufacturing technology which has gained industrial interest for the production of medium-to-large components with high material deposition rates. However, in-depth studies on performance indicators that incorporate economic and environmental sustainability still have to be carried out. The first aim of the paper has been to quantify the performance metrics of WAAM-based manufacturing approaches, while varying the size and the deposited material of the component. The second aim has been to propose a multi-criteria decision-analysis mapping to compare the combined impacts of products manufactured by means of the WAAM-based approach and machining.
Highlights
Materials and methodsWire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) extends the benefits of layer-by-layer fabrication to medium-to-large parts of low geometrical complexity, while exploiting much higher deposition rates than powder-bed technologies [1]
The time necessary to manufacture the titanium bracket and the aluminium frame is basically comparable, while it is higher for the WAAMed steel beam
As for the mechanical characterisation, the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) samples showed slightly lower ultimate tensile strength and yield strength values and, in some cases, higher elongation at break values than the expected values for the parental materials
Summary
Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) extends the benefits of layer-by-layer fabrication to medium-to-large parts of low geometrical complexity, while exploiting much higher deposition rates than powder-bed technologies [1]. In order to produce the components, which are conventionally manufactured by means of material removal processes from massive workpieces, two different WAAM system configurations were used, both based on anthropomorphic 6-axis Kuka robots for the provision of motion. The first system relies on a plasma-arc power source (water cooled), and has a shielding device for the local supply of an inert gas atmosphere. This system was used to deposit two components: (i) a titanium bracket of about 8 kg, which is generally found on the airframes of civil aircraft; and (ii) a 5-metre-long ER70s-6 steel cantilever beam for architectural applications. The second setup relies on Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) as the deposition process [7], and was adopted for the production of an AA2319 aluminium frame for aerospace applications
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