Real-time monitoring of temperature field, metal transfer and cooling rate during gas metal arc-directed energy deposition

Abstract

Gas metal arc-directed energy deposition is a metal additive manufacturing technique that involves the melting of a filler wire under an electric arc resulting in a high rate of deposition of molten metal and fast building of large scale parts in a layer-by-layer manner. A novel attempt is presented here for real-time simultaneous monitoring of the arc current, voltage and power, and the nature of surface temperature field and filler wire deposition during the process. The recorded temperature fields are analysed to trace the layer-wise variation in melt pool dimensions and solidification cooling rates. Together these process signatures demonstrated a synchronised assessment and potential to support an integrated feedback control system for gas metal arc-directed energy deposition.