Zavarivanje, Vol. 61. No. 3-4, 2018.
Review article
WIRE AND ARC ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING ( WAAM )- CURRENT SITUATION AND POTENTIAL
Nikola Knezović
orcid.org/0000-0003-0034-5503
; Fakultet strojarstva,računarstva i elektrotehnike,Sveučilište u Mostaru
Abstract
Additive manufacturing is a manufacturing process of creating objects by building up materials,layer-by-layer. Differentadditive manufacturing technologies use polymer materials or metal powders as fillers,as well as different sources of energy ( heat ),what leads to problems.
WAAM ( Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing ) is an additive manufacturing technology which has become popular and interesting for research over the past 30 years,although the first patent in this field dates all the way back to 1925.It owes its popularity to the fact that it helps to manufacture pieces with different metals with a much lower degree of porosity and considerably decreased share of machining.It is predominantly used in modern industries,such as the aerospace industry.These industries acted as drivers and sponsors of a greaterpart of research.
The WAAM technology is used with the existing welding equipment,an electric arc as heat source and welding wire as filler material,what makes it much cheaper compared to other additive manufacturing technologies.
The process consists of several steps ( design of a CAD model,model cutting in layers,path generation process,selection of welding parameters,material deposition and final machining )
This paper outlines these steps,as well as the main advantages and disadvantages of this technology.In addition,this paper aims to provide an insight into the research undertaken so far and propose any future steps and ideas that could improve the WAAM technology and enable it to obtain a considerable share in industrial manufacturing.
Keywords
electric arc; wire; fabrication
Hrčak ID:
203076
URI
Publication date:
5.7.2018.
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