On the use of gas-metal-arc-welding additive manufacturing for repurposing of low-carbon steel components: microstructures and mechanical properties

In this paper, the utilization of gas-metal-arc-welding additive manufacturing (GMAWAM) for the repurposing of components was explored. Herein, the GMAWAM process was used to build new low-carbon steel features on an existing low-carbon steel component to obtain a new part with new functionalities. To confirm the internal quality of the new part obtained by such a strategy that is adequate for real applications, its material properties were investigated. The obtained results reveal that the new features (i.e., thin walls) built by GMAWAM possess different microstructure types. The upper region of thin-walled features exhibits lamellar structures, whereas the middle region is characterized by granular structures, and mixed equiaxed and lamellar grains appear in the bottom region. Particularly, the new features have an excellent bonding strength with the existing part. The material properties of GMAWAM-repurposed parts also meet industrial requirements, confirming that the GMAWAM-repurposed parts are adequate with real applications.