This document provides an overview of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). It describes WAAM as an additive manufacturing technique that uses an electric arc as an energy source and welding wire as a feedstock. WAAM allows for high deposition rates compared to powder-based methods. The document reviews academic studies on WAAM of aluminum components and modular path planning. It also discusses applications of WAAM in aerospace and comparisons between WAAM and powder laser melting methods.

1. Özel Metal Malzemeler ve Yenilikçi Proses
Teknolojileri Birimi
WIRE ARC ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING(WAAM)

2. CONTENTS
 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING(AM)
 WIRE ARC ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING(WAAM)
 ACADEMIC STUDIES
 APPLICATIONS OF WAAM
 SOME RESEARCHS of CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
 WAAM vs POWDER LASER MELTING

3. Additive Manufacturing(AM)
 Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a technique where structures are produced by
adding and depositing material in a layer upon layer manner. AM is the
suitable method for geometric and material complexity.
Figure1. Flow Chart of the Additive Manufacturing Process

4. Metallic Additive Manufacturing Systems
• Wire Feed Systems:
The feed stock is wire, and the energy source for these units can include
electron beam, laser beam, and plasma arc. In general, wire feed systems are well
suited for high deposition rate processing.
Figure2. Generic illustration of an AM wire feed system

5. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing(WAAM)
 WAAM is a technology which has been investigated in last 30 years.It became
interesting for scientists and manufacturers due to its ability to produce fully
dense and larger metal parts. It uses existing welding equipment, electric arc as
energy source and welding wire as feedstock.
Figure3. A simple Waam system

6. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing(WAAM)
 While the material deposition rate is 2-10 g/min in laser-based methods, it
reaches 50-90 g/min in the WAAM method.
Figure4. Landing gear component

7. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing(WAAM)

8. Academic Studies

9. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Aluminum Components
 Introduction/Materials and Methods
For deposition, a solid wire electrode with a diameter of 1.0 mm was used.
Metallographic samples were taken from the middle part of the samples for
macrostructure analysis. Tensile test was conducted at room temperature with a
test speed of 3.2 mm/min.
Table1. Nominal composition of welding wires
Table2. Welding parameters used for sample processing

10. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Aluminum Components
 Results and Discussion
As shown in the figure5 and 6, the results from visual examination Al-4047
showed a more uneven geometry whereas, Al-5356 showed a smooth and uniform
wall surface.
Figure5. Manufactured Al-4047 sample Figure6. Manufactured Al-5356 sample
As shown in the figure7, no significant change in hardness values can be
detected along the buildup of Al-5356 whereas, hardness values of Al-4047 showed
an inhomogeneous profile.
Figure7. Hardness distribution depending on buildup height

11. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of Aluminum Components
 Conclusion
According to the analysis results;
• A wide solidification range is more suitable for uniform deposition.
• Increased arc length result in higher dynamic forces , thus affecting
deposition accuracy.
• The low energy input (current / voltage) does not alter the geometric
accuracy of the wall structure.
• Bead width decreases with travel speed. Melt through depth decreases
significantly with travel speed.
• Increasing travel speed or decreasing current causes a decrease in melt
through depth and an increase in roughness.

12. Modular path planning solution for Wire + Arc Additive
Manufacturing
Accurate path planning is as important as selecting the optimum process
parameters.
Figure8. Sharped turn(a) vs corner division (b).
Figure9. Path generetion through width varition.
As shown in figure8, sharp turns should be
avoided, and instead replaced by corner
intersections. Similarly, a sudden width
variation can create irregular paths results in
significant defects. (Fig. 9a,9b)

13. A modular path planning solution for Wire + Arc Additive
Manufacturing
 As shown in Fig. 10a, a simple straight wall contains three zones to
accommodate the different thermal conditions in the stages of deposition start,
steady state, and end. This parameters change must be done whichever path is
used. Additionally, if a section contains a width requiring specific deposition
parameters, a zone can be defined to account for that change in width. (Fig.
10b).
Figure10. Zones definition.

14. APPLICATIONS
 WAAM offers a alternative to traditional manufacturing industries such as
aerospace, marine, automotive and architecture.
 Aerospace is one of the main industries that is currently unlocking the full
potential of WAAM. For example, STELIA Aerospace has recently
created aluminium fuselage panels with stiffeners manufactured directly on the
surface, using the WAAM technology.
Figure11. Wing part produced by waam

15. Cranfield University
 What they’ve deposited so far;
Ti-6Al-4V Aluminium Refractories
– Grade 5 – 2024 –Tungsten
– Grade 23 – 2319 –Molybdenum
Steels Inconel Bronze Copper
– Stainless (17-4 PH, 316L) – 625
– 718
• The largest metal parts of WAAM;

16. WAAM vs Powder Laser Melting
 The Waam method has the potential to produce large-scale metallic parts due
to its high deposition rate, low equipment investment and low operating costs.
 Waam materials have better mechanical properties than powder bed systems
materials and do not exhibit porosity problems.
 However, geometrical and surface accuracy are lower compared to powder-
based processes.
Figure12. Comparison of AM methods.

17. REFERENCES
 An Introduction to Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing. (2018, June 14). Retrieved from
https://amfg.ai/2018/05/17/an-introduction-to-wire-arc-additive-manufacturing/
 WAAM - Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.aircraft-
philipp.com/en/acp-additive-manufacturing/waam-wire-arc-additive-manufacturing/
 Williams, S. W., Martina, F., Addison, A. C., Ding, J., Pardal, G., & Colegrove, P. (2016). Wire Arc
Additive Manufacturing. Material Science and Technology, 32(7), 641-647.
 WAAMMat. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://waammat.com/
 Ayan, Y., & Kahraman, N. (2018). METAL EKLEMELİ İMALAT: TEL ARK YÖNTEMİ VE
UYGULAMALARI. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGIES AND DIGITAL
INDUSTRY, 2(3), 78-84.
 Guo, N. & Leu, M.C. Front. Mech. Eng. (2013) 8: 215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11465-013-0248-8
 Frazier, W.E. J. of Materi Eng and Perform (2014) 23: 1917. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-014-0958-z
 Köhler, M., Fiebig, S., Hensel, J., & Dilger, K. (2019). Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing of
Aluminum Components. Metals, 9(608). doi::10.3390/met9050608

18. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION