Tailoring the alloy composition for wire arc additive manufacturing utilizing metal-cored wires in the cold metal transfer process

•Metal cored wires can be utilized in the modified short-circuit cold metal transfer process to customize alloy composition and microstructure.•By varying the chemical composition and increasing the nickel content of a hot-work tool steel alloy, the amount of detrimental delta ferrite can be reduced and its morphology changed.•By changing the chemical composition and the resulting microstructure of the AM parts, the mechanical properties can be significantly improved.