Effect of process parameters on the quality of aluminium alloy Al5Si deposits in wire and arc additive manufacturing using a cold metal transfer process

摘要

A 3D print device using a cold metal transfer arc welding station to melt a metallic filler wire isdeveloped to build aluminium part by optimising the process parameters. First tests achievedusing standard pre-recorded process parameters allow to study the effect of the travel speedand the average welding power on the geometrical characteristics of mono-layer deposits andon walls built by layers superposition. Finally, a parametric study of the effect of each processparameter controlling the shape of the arc current or voltage and the filler wire feeding is carriedout in order to try to improve the geometrical regularity of the deposits, and to better understandthe effect of each parameter on the melting of the filler wire, its transfer on the support plate, andthe geometry of the formed bead.