Finite Element Modelling of Wire-arc-additive-manufacturing Process

Wire-Arc-Additive-Manufacturing (WAAM) is an Additive-Manufacturing (AM) process, allowing to produce metal components layer by layer by means of Gas-Metal-Arc-Welding (GMAW) technology. The advantages of this technology are the capability to create large parts with a higher deposition rate with respect to other AM technologies. Despite these great benefits, WAAM components are affected by severe distortions and residual stresses issues. Finite element process simulation provides an efficient way to study mitigation strategies for such issues. In this paper, a WAAM modelling strategy is proposed based on a novel heat source model that takes into account the actual power distribution between filler and base materials. In order to prove the effectiveness of proposed modelling, an experimental validation is provided by comparing the measured distortions of a WAAM tests-case with the simulated ones, highlighting the accuracy of proposed model.