Abstract
A test bench specially dedicated to additive manufacturing by a new technology based on the electric arc melting of a metallic wire has been developed. This technology uses an electric arc welding process called Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) as energy source to ensure the controlled melting of the wire and the deposition of liquid metal droplets to produce mechanical parts by superposing weld beads. The developed technology was used to make specimens from a low alloyed steel wire. The influence of the many parameters controlling the arc welding source on the mechanism of wire melting and transfer of molten metal droplets to form weld beads was studied. The melting-transfer cycles of liquid metal were analyzed in particular with special interest in the energies generated during each of the cycle phases. This knowledge has made possible to find different process settings for increasing the metal deposition rate compared to the pre-recorded standard settings in the microprocessor of the CMT welding generator. Walls consisting of the superposition of a large number of weld beads were then made, and the influence of the addition of many layers on the geometry of the deposits were discussed. Finally, a method of online control of the process, based on the principle of control charts, has been developed. A detailed study of the representative waveforms of current and voltage of the melting / transfer cycle with the CMT process has allowed to identify the most relevant characteristics for detecting, from a control chart, a deviation on the process that may lead to the appearance of geometrical defects.