Robot-Assisted Double-Pulse Gas Metal Arc Welding for Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing

The study presents the process of double-pulse gas metal arc welding (DP-GMAW) for wire-and-arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). The robot-assisted DP-GMAW process built up an aluminum laminate wall using the filler wire ER5356 of diameter 1.2 mm with industrial argon gas shielding on aluminum 5083 substrate material. There are two stages in the study including the single-pass build-up and the multi-pass build-up. In first stage, the effect of DP-GMAW parameters on the build-up dimension was investigated, including current (ampere), voltage (volt), travel speed (centimeters per minute), frequency (Hz), duty cycle (percent) and delta current (ampere). The dimension of bead width and bead height were used to represent the effect of parameters as well as the processability of DP-GMAW. The results were sketched in a process window of current and travel speed for the DP-GMAW single-pass forming. In the second stage, the experiments focused on the effect of DP-GMAW conditions on a laminate wall dimension. The suitable DP-GMAW condition was determined for building-up the desired laminate wall.