Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM): A new process to shape engineering materials

Abstract Additive Manufacturing (AM) has shown a way to the scientific and industrial community for the direct formation of products and has also replaced the traditional approaches in some industrial contexts by minimizing the material consumption. Out of various AM processes, Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has acquired more recognition on account of peerless efficiency and benefits that mainly comprises high deposition rates, increased material efficiency, lesser lead time, better component performance and reduced inventory costs. WAAM is similar to welding, as it includes layer by layer deposition for large parts with fewer complexities. Significant research has been done in this area in order to widen its applications, especially to reap benefits attributable to high buy-to-fly ratio parts of aviation industry. This article reviews to bridge knowledge gap concerning the assessment of commercial and efficient aspects of extensive application of WAAM. The equipment cost of WAAM is comparatively low than any other AM process involving metal deposition but still the procurement of structurally-sound and defect-free parts has many strenuous variables in-between. Various research work and novel practice have been evolved in order to uplift the properties of material and its strength by removing defects such as deformation, cracking, porosity and spatter. The material and manufacturing process amalgamation still needs crucial experimentation and analysis into the future. Different WAAM designs are awaited to advance the efficiency for particular applications, rather than a generalized system to address all the possible problems. In future, WAAM adoption will accelerate, as it opens the possibilities to produce heavy metal parts, providing industries the alternative which is fast and cost-effective. This paper aims to describe the various stagewise developments and capabilities of WAAM process, with an overview on the materials that can be worked upon and some insight on the future prospects of the process.

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