3D construction and repair from welding and material science perspectives

Additive manufacturing, based on layer-by-layer deposition of a feedstock material from a 3D data, can be mechanistically associated to welding. With feedstock fusion based processes, both additive manufacturing and welding implement similar heat sources, feedstock materials and translation mechanisms. From material science perspectives, additive manufacturing can take clue from lessons learned by millennium old welding technology to rapidly advance in its quest to generate fit for service metallic parts. This paper illustrates material science highlights extracted from the fabrication of a 316 L air vent and the functional repair of a Monel K500 (UNS N0500) with Inconel 625.