Robotic Wire + Arc Additive Manufacuture
Lead Research Organisation:
CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
Department Name: Sch of Aerospace, Transport & Manufact
Abstract
3D printing or additive manufacture (AM) of metals has the potential to revolutionise some areas of industry such as aerospace and energy. This particularly applies if it can be used for the production of large parts at low cost and with high quality for critical engineering applications. It has been demonstrated on a laboratory scale that 3D printing based on conventional welding methods using an electric arc and wire feed to deposit weld beads in a layer wise fashion has the potential for this. However there are currently no commercial systems available to enable this to be exploited on an industrial scale. The objective of the RoboWAAM project is to develop a 3D metal printing system based on large scale flexible robotics and welding technology.
The developed system will be adaptable so that other process such as inspection can be incorporated during the printing of the part. This will ensure that the printed parts have the required high quality. The system will be suitable for subsequent commercialisation. Adoption of the system by industrial users will lead to significant cost savings in a range of industrial sectors including aerospace, construction and energy.
The project is a collaboration between Kuka Systems, Airbus Defence and Space, FMC Technologies, Glenalmond Group, CU and the University of Strathclyde (including the Advanced Forming Research Centre, which is one of the High Value Manufacturing Catapults).
The developed system will be adaptable so that other process such as inspection can be incorporated during the printing of the part. This will ensure that the printed parts have the required high quality. The system will be suitable for subsequent commercialisation. Adoption of the system by industrial users will lead to significant cost savings in a range of industrial sectors including aerospace, construction and energy.
The project is a collaboration between Kuka Systems, Airbus Defence and Space, FMC Technologies, Glenalmond Group, CU and the University of Strathclyde (including the Advanced Forming Research Centre, which is one of the High Value Manufacturing Catapults).
Planned Impact
1. When the ROBOWAAM system becomes commercially available it will be the first metal AM system capable of automatically producing meter-scale metallic parts with high integrity and low cost. This would put the UK in a world leading
and unique position with respect to provision of these systems. Consequently significant economic benefits can be expected. UK sales are expected to be at least £4M per year (8 systems @ £500k each) with much larger numbers likely
for exports. This will provide significant economic benefit to the system supplier and the UK in general.
2. ADS will require 2 RoboWAAM systems to manufacture 16-20 titanium tanks annually. Glenalmond plan to establish a facility in the UK which will initially integrate 8 WAAM systems with post processing to provide the world's first full turnkey WAAM component manufacturing centre of excellence. This will be expanded to supply further demand being shown by a number of blue chip international companies. FMC plan to establish a full AM manufacture capability based on RoboWAAM. UK aerospace supply chain and oil & gas supply chain. If the technologies developed within this project were rolled out across the UK aerospace supply chain as well as the UK oil & gas supply chain, it would give them a significant competitive advantage over their overseas competitors. This could potentially increase employment within this sector.
3. UK economy. In addition to the increased competitiveness of UK companies, the reduced raw material imports (typically from the US and Russia), and an increase in exports of semi-finished products produced by the UK supply chain will significantly improve the UK balance of trade benefiting society as a whole.
4. Environment. There will be a significant environmental benefit due to a 60% reduction in the requirement of raw materials, with a consequential reduction in carbon emissions and energy use from the mining, refinement and transportation phases of the product life cycle.
5. Cranfield University. The licensing of Cranfield Intellectual Property through the WAAM-Soft software will provide an additional revenue stream to the university, helping to fund continued high quality research in this area and ensuring the continued provision of highly skilled engineers to UK industry. The project will also help Cranfield University to remain at the forefront of research within this field. The wider adoption of the technology will provide a need for additional academic studies into the development of process control algorithms for new materials and geometries (of interest to other sectors), and general process innovations which Cranfield will be uniquely positioned to deliver.
6. Staff working on the project. The staff working on this project will develop a unique set of skills in welding/deposition, materials, and process monitoring and control. Hence the project will help provide the manufacturing industry with staff with this unique skill set.
7. Students working within the department. The university runs a successful Welding Engineering MSc course where students are taught the latest advances in welding and additive manufacture technologies. The students will be exposed to
the outputs of this research within their taught modules and will potentially be able to participate in the research itself through their group and individual projects.
and unique position with respect to provision of these systems. Consequently significant economic benefits can be expected. UK sales are expected to be at least £4M per year (8 systems @ £500k each) with much larger numbers likely
for exports. This will provide significant economic benefit to the system supplier and the UK in general.
2. ADS will require 2 RoboWAAM systems to manufacture 16-20 titanium tanks annually. Glenalmond plan to establish a facility in the UK which will initially integrate 8 WAAM systems with post processing to provide the world's first full turnkey WAAM component manufacturing centre of excellence. This will be expanded to supply further demand being shown by a number of blue chip international companies. FMC plan to establish a full AM manufacture capability based on RoboWAAM. UK aerospace supply chain and oil & gas supply chain. If the technologies developed within this project were rolled out across the UK aerospace supply chain as well as the UK oil & gas supply chain, it would give them a significant competitive advantage over their overseas competitors. This could potentially increase employment within this sector.
3. UK economy. In addition to the increased competitiveness of UK companies, the reduced raw material imports (typically from the US and Russia), and an increase in exports of semi-finished products produced by the UK supply chain will significantly improve the UK balance of trade benefiting society as a whole.
4. Environment. There will be a significant environmental benefit due to a 60% reduction in the requirement of raw materials, with a consequential reduction in carbon emissions and energy use from the mining, refinement and transportation phases of the product life cycle.
5. Cranfield University. The licensing of Cranfield Intellectual Property through the WAAM-Soft software will provide an additional revenue stream to the university, helping to fund continued high quality research in this area and ensuring the continued provision of highly skilled engineers to UK industry. The project will also help Cranfield University to remain at the forefront of research within this field. The wider adoption of the technology will provide a need for additional academic studies into the development of process control algorithms for new materials and geometries (of interest to other sectors), and general process innovations which Cranfield will be uniquely positioned to deliver.
6. Staff working on the project. The staff working on this project will develop a unique set of skills in welding/deposition, materials, and process monitoring and control. Hence the project will help provide the manufacturing industry with staff with this unique skill set.
7. Students working within the department. The university runs a successful Welding Engineering MSc course where students are taught the latest advances in welding and additive manufacture technologies. The students will be exposed to
the outputs of this research within their taught modules and will potentially be able to participate in the research itself through their group and individual projects.
Publications
Lines D
(2020)
A flexible robotic cell for in-process inspection of multi-pass welds
in Insight - Non-Destructive Testing and Condition Monitoring
Michel F
(2019)
A modular path planning solution for Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing
in Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing
Vithanage R
(2021)
A Phased Array Ultrasound Roller Probe for Automated in-Process/Interpass Inspection of Multipass Welds
in IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics
Zhao H
(2019)
Automated image mapping and quantification of microstructure heterogeneity in additive manufactured Ti6Al4V
in Materials Characterization
Vithanage R
(2022)
Development of a phased array ultrasound roller probe for inspection of wire + arc additive manufactured components
in Journal of Manufacturing Processes
Zhang X
(2016)
Fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate properties in wire + arc additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V
in Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials & Structures
Javadi Y
(2020)
In-process calibration of a non-destructive testing system used for in-process inspection of multi-pass welding
in Materials & Design
Mohseni E
(2021)
Model-assisted ultrasonic calibration using intentionally embedded defects for in-process weld inspection
in Materials & Design
Ho A
(2019)
On the origin of microstructural banding in Ti-6Al4V wire-arc based high deposition rate additive manufacturing
in Acta Materialia
Description | A 3D metal printing has been developed suitable for manufacture of large scale aerospace parts. The system incorporates many hardware innovations and a full suite of software for planning and controlling the operation of the system |
Exploitation Route | The main outcome of the project provided the basis for the first commercial product provided by the spin out company WAAM3D |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Construction Energy Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Transport |
Description | A company WAAM3D has been set up to directly exploit outputs from this research project. This company now has 30 staff and series B investment is being acquired. The first full systems have now been released. |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
Impact Types | Societal Economic |
Description | Discussion with CTO of High Value Manufacturing Catapult on how to best engage with centres in the HVMC |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Description | MSc Course - Additive Manufacture |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | The MSc course contributes to increase number of skilled people working in additive manufacturing (AM). When compared to the traditional manufacturing processes, AM offers a significant cost saving by reducing the amount of material used and processing time. AM is also an environmentaly friendly process because less material is used and wasted during manufacturing of large industrial components. |
Description | ATI Innovate funding |
Amount | £8,000,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | 5041010 |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2018 |
End | 12/2020 |
Description | Coherent range-resolved interferometry (Co-RRI) sensor development and integration for WAAM |
Amount | £50,295 (GBP) |
Organisation | WAAM3D Limited |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 02/2021 |
End | 11/2021 |
Description | I-Break: Wire based DED, technology maturation and landing gear application |
Amount | £15,393,193 (GBP) |
Organisation | Innovate UK |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2022 |
End | 06/2025 |
Description | Multifun |
Amount | € 8,320,000 (EUR) |
Funding ID | P12842 |
Organisation | European Commission H2020 |
Sector | Public |
Country | Belgium |
Start | 03/2020 |
End | 02/2023 |
Description | Process Development with WAAM process for new titanium alloy |
Amount | £68,700 (GBP) |
Organisation | WAAM3D Limited |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 03/2023 |
Description | Sprint Hybrid Direct Energy Deposition |
Amount | £180,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Aerospace Technology Institute |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 03/2021 |
End | 09/2022 |
Description | Sustainable Additive Manufacture - SAM |
Amount | £1,638,781 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/W01906X/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2022 |
End | 05/2025 |
Description | WAAM for mining applications |
Amount | £35,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | Weir Group plc |
Sector | Private |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 01/2022 |
End | 12/2022 |
Company Name | WAAM3D |
Description | WAAM3D manufactures specialist components using wire-based directed-energy-deposition additive-manufacturing (WAAM). |
Year Established | 2018 |
Impact | WAAM3D has secured £1.5 Million of investment from an overseas investor and is now recruiting to 12 staff (5 so far). It has received it first orders for systems and wire valuing nearly £2 Million already. It has also secured research contract for €300k. The company is currently securing its own premises. |
Website | http://www.waam3d.com |
Description | Belgian welding society talk |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Keynote lecture at Belgian Welding Society 75 year celebration workshop |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | NIIAM opening |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Keynote presentation at formal opening of the National Innovation Institute for Additve Manufacture (NIIAM) in Xian China |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
Description | Visitors from Singaporean National Additive Manufacture Centre |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | Discussion about future collaboration |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |