Abstract
A new additive manufacturing process for metallic parts, based on the arc welding process known as CMT (Cold Metal Transfer), is studied with the objective of building parts with the aluminium alloy Al5Si. A workbench for additive manufacturing based on the 3D printers open-source principle, on which the CMT generator was integrated, was specially developed. The CMT process allows to control the aluminium wire melting and its deposition under the form of droplets on the building surface, forming, after solidification, beads that can be superposed for the parts construction. The process parameters influence on the material transfer and heat transfer during the metal melting and deposition on the build surface, as well as on the geometric characteristics of the deposed beads, in the case of mono-layer deposits, and in the case of multi-layer walls, is studied. Many geometric defects were observed, and their apparition conditions analysed, thanks in particular to the use of a high-speed camera. The understanding of the relations between the process parameters, the melting and heat transfer mechanisms, and the beads geometry, allowed the defects correction by identifying and modifying the process parameters responsible of their apparition. Finally, an on-line control method for the process, based on the analysis of the voltage and current signals produced by the welding generator during the deposition phenomena, making possible the early detection of defects, and then the modification of the process parameters before they are amplified, has been proposed.