Open Access
High deposition wire arc additive manufacturing of mild steel: strategies and heat input effect on microstructure and mechanical properties
(Elsevier, 2020-09-02) Aldalur, Eider; Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Suárez, Alfredo; Bilbao, Jon; Lamikiz, Aitzol; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is a layer-by-layer production concept that is proposed as a promising alternative to traditional subtractive techniques due to its potential to manufacture large metallic components of medium geometrical complexity. In recent years, this technology has created interest due to the advantages it proposes, such as a low cost and high deposition rates in comparison with other Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. In this study, the Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)-based WAAM system was developed to deposit mild steel material. To that end, a comprehensive methodology to understand the main process variables and their influence in the final component properties is shown. The aim of the present study was to compare the influence of oscillatory and overlapping deposition strategies in terms of productivity, growth per layer, obtained microstructure and mechanical properties using the control volume concept to compare volume-dependent parameters. Although some characteristics of these strategies have been documented in literature, the heat input influence has not yet been comprehensively demonstrated and understood. For example, heat input, analyzed deeply in the present study, is a critical factor for the stability of the WAAM process, influencing the mechanical properties and microstructural evolution of as-fabricated parts. The results indicate that the oscillated strategy increases productivity.
Open Access
Effect of the heat input on wire-arc additive manufacturing of invar 36 alloy: microstructure and mechanical properties
(Springer, 2022) Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Suárez, Alfredo; Artaza, Teresa; Aldalur, Eider; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
Invar, also known as FeNi36, is a material of great interest due to its unique properties, which makes it an excellent alternative for sectors such as tooling in aeronautics and aerospace. Its manufacture by means of wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology could extend its use. This paper aims to evaluate the comparison of two of the most widespread WAAM technologies: plasma arc welding (PAW) and gas metal arc welding (GMAW). This comparison is based on the analysis of wall geometry, metallography, and mechanical properties of the material produced by both technologies. The results show a slight increase in toughness and elongation before fracture and worse tensile strength data in the case of PAW, with average values of 485 MPa for ultimate tensile strength (UTS), 31% for elongation and 475 MPa, 40% in GMAW and PAW, respectively. All results gathered from the analysis show the possibility of successful manufacturing of Invar by means of WAAM technologies. The novelties presented in this paper allow us to establish relationships between the thermal input of the process itself and the mechanical and metallographic properties of the material produced.
Open Access
Validation of the mechanical behavior of an aeronautical fixing turret produced by a design for additive manufacturing (DfAM)
(MDPI, 2022) Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Bhujangrao, Trunal; Suárez, Alfredo; Aldalur, Eider; Goenaga, Igor; Gil Hernández, Daniel; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
The design of parts in such critical sectors as the manufacturing of aeronautical parts is awaiting a paradigm shift due to the introduction of additive manufacturing technologies. The manufacture of parts designed by means of the design-oriented additive manufacturing methodology (DfAM) has acquired great relevance in recent years. One of the major gaps in the application of these technologies is the lack of studies on the mechanical behavior of parts manufactured using this methodology. This paper focuses on the manufacture of a turret for the clamping of parts for the aeronautical industry. The design of the lightened turret by means of geometry optimization, the manufacture of the turret in polylactic acid (PLA) and 5XXX series aluminum alloy by means of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) technology and the analysis by means of finite element analysis (FEA) with its validation by means of a tensile test are presented. The behavior of the part manufactured with both materials is compared. The conclusion allows to establish which are the limitations of the part manufactured in PLA for its orientation to the final application, whose advantages are its lower weight and cost. This paper is novel as it presents a holistic view that covers the process in an integrated way from the design and manufacture to the behaviour of the component in use.
Open Access
Wall fabrication by direct energy deposition (DED) combining mild steel (ER70) and stainless steel (SS 316L): microstructure and mechanical properties
(MDPI, 2022) Uralde Jiménez, Virginia; Suárez, Alfredo; Aldalur, Eider; Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Ballesteros Egüés, Tomás; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
Direct energy deposition is gaining much visibility in research as one of the most adaptable additive manufacturing technologies for industry due to its ease of application and high deposition rates. The possibility of combining these materials to obtain parts with variable mechanical properties is an important task to be studied. The combination of two types of steel, mild steel ER70-6 and stainless steel SS 316L, for the fabrication of a wall by direct energy deposition was studied for this paper. The separate fabrication of these two materials was studied for the microstructurally flawless fabrication of bimetallic walls. As a result of the application of superimposed and overlapped strategies, two walls were fabricated and the microstructure, mechanical properties and hardness of the resulting walls are analyzed. The walls obtained with both strategies present dissimilar regions; the hardness where the most present material is ER70-6 is around 380 HV, and for SS 316L, it is around 180 HV. The average values of ultimate tensile strength (UTS) are 869 and 628 MPa, yield strength (YS) are 584 and 389 MPa and elongation at break are 20% and 36%, respectively, in the cases where we have more ER70-6 in the sample than SS 316L. This indicates an important relationship between the distribution of the materials and their mechanical behavior.
Open Access
Thermal expansion behaviour of Invar 36 alloy parts fabricated by wire-arc additive manufacturing
(Elsevier, 2022) Aldalur, Eider; Suárez, Alfredo; Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
Invar 36 alloy is of high interest in various industrial sectors, due to its reduced thermal expansion properties. This study aims to validate Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) technology as a valid method for manufacturing aerospace tooling in Invar 36. The main novelty and the objective of this work is to study the properties of Invar deposited by WAAM technology and to provide guidelines for the manufacture of parts using this technology. To do so, the thermal expansion behaviour of Invar specimens manufactured using Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)-based WAAM technology and Plasma Arc Welding (PAW)-based WAAM technology is analyzed for subsequent comparison with the values obtained from the laminated Invar sample used as the reference specimen. A wall is manufactured with each technology, for comparative purposes, from which specimens were extracted for the dilatometry test and metallographic analysis. The results of these analyses show the advantages of GMAW technology for the manufacture of Invar alloy parts, as it presents the same thermal expansion behaviour as the laminated reference material with less presence of precipitates and no macrostructural failures such as pores, cracks and lacks of fusion. Furthermore, to conclude, an aeronautical tooling that has been manufactured within this work demonstrated the potential of this technology to manu-facture specialized aeronautical parts.
Open Access
Symmetry and its application in metal additive manufacturing (MAM)
(MDPI, 2022) Uralde Jiménez, Virginia; Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Aldalur, Eider; Suárez, Alfredo; Ballesteros Egüés, Tomás; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
Additive manufacturing (AM) is proving to be a promising new and economical technique for the manufacture of metal parts. This technique basically consists of depositing material in a more or less precise way until a solid is built. This stage of material deposition allows the acquisition of a part with a quasi-final geometry (considered a Near Net Shape process) with a very high raw material utilization rate. There is a wide variety of different manufacturing techniques for the production of components in metallic materials. Although significant research work has been carried out in recent years, resulting in the wide dissemination of results and presentation of reviews on the subject, this paper seeks to cover the applications of symmetry, and its techniques and principles, to the additive manufacturing of metals.
Open Access
Symmetry analysis in wire arc direct energy deposition for overlapping and oscillatory strategies in mild steel
(MDPI, 2023) Uralde Jiménez, Virginia; Veiga Suárez, Fernando; Suárez, Alfredo; Aldalur, Eider; Ballesteros Egüés, Tomás; Ingeniería; Ingeniaritza
The field of additive manufacturing has experienced a surge in popularity over recent decades, particularly as a viable alternative to traditional metal part production. Directed energy deposition (DED) is one of the most promising additive technologies, characterized by its high deposition rate, with wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) being a prominent example. Despite its advantages, DED is known to produce parts with suboptimal surface quality and geometric accuracy, which has been a major obstacle to its widespread adoption. This is due, in part, to a lack of understanding of the complex geometries produced by the additive layer. To address this challenge, researchers have focused on characterizing the geometry of the additive layer, particularly the outer part of the bead. This paper specifically investigates the geometrical characteristics and symmetry of walls produced by comparing two different techniques: an oscillated strategy and overlapping beads.