High Productivity Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (HPWAAM)

Additive Manufacturing (AM) also known as 3D printing is a process where objects are produced by adding and depositing material in layers. AM offers significant advantages over traditional manufacturing namely design freedom,lead time reduction and lightweighting resulting to increased performance, cost reduction and new business models-digital inventories.

Most AM systems comprise of a motion system, heat source and feedstock(raw material). Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is the combining of a robotic manipulator, using an electric arc as the heat source and wire as the feedstock. WAAM also offers the distinct advantage of being able to produce near-net shape designs in a large scale \\\>1m long.

Currently WAAM is focused on high value parts weighing a few tens of kg made out materials such as titanium for the aerospace sector. Current build rates for WAAM are quite low at 2-3 kg/hr. Other industry sectors such as mining, energy and construction use lower value materials e.g. steels and are showing interest in WAAM application. In these industries the production processes are casting, forging combined with machining and/or fabrication reliant on manual operations. Parts often weigh several hundred kgs or even tons, with lengthy production time frames. To make a viable business case for WAAM in these industries, the deposition rate needs to increase dramatically to \\\>15kg/hr for steel, whilst maintaining precision and low recurring costs.

In this project a new High Productivity Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Process (HPWAAM) will be developed to manufacture large scale parts and structures used in engineering and construction industries with high quality and deposition rate of up to 15 kg/hr. To help achieve this new high-quality shaped filler wires (Wintwire-SME) and overall heat control using cryogenic cooling (BOC) will also be developed.

**Aim** Demonstrate a new High Productivity Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing process for manufacturing large components and structures for mining, oil&gas and construction industries.

**Objectives**

Industrialise the HPWAAM process for large-scale engineering components,featuring full thermal control and variable resolution (CU, WAAM3D-SME).

Upgrade existing planning and control software to commercial grade enabling implementation of HPWAAM in an industrial environment.

Demonstrate the capabilities of HPWAAM for production of \\\>100kg steel components for mining and construction applications.

Led by Weir Group this challenging project consists of a consortium covering all aspects necessary for industrial implementation of HPWAAM; process technology development (CU, BOC), supply chain (WAAM3D, Wintwire), end users (Weir, Fosters+Partners) and steel fabrication supplier (Steelo-SME).