Closed-loop control of variable layer width for thin-walled parts in wire and arc additive manufacturing

An intelligent single-neuron self-adjusting controller is proposed for variable layer width control in wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). The travel speed is selected as the input control variable and the layer width is chosen as the output. The performance of the controller is validated by the disturbance of deposition current, inter-layer temperature, and given layer width. It is also evaluated through deposition of a 13-layered wall with variable layer width. The proposed controller is effective for increasing the process stability when the expected layer width ranges from 6 to 9 mm.