<p>The heat accumulation and thermal cycle in the process of arc additive manufacturing had a serious impact on the forming quality, microstructure and mechanical properties of formed parts. In this study, a model for arc additive manufacturing of duplex stainless steel was established to analyze the evolution of temperature field under different deposition paths with or without cooling conditions. Under the condition of depositing four layers of metal, the end side of the first layer of metal deposited under the same directional deposition path and reciprocal deposition path had higher heat accumulation than the start side. Under the condition of cooling, the temperature drop at the midpoint of the first layer of deposited metal under the reciprocating path was greater than that of the same direction deposition path. The reciprocating deposition path and interlayer cooling method could significantly reduce the heat accumulation in the additive process and improve the forming quality of the deposited metal. The tensile strength and elongation of the deposited metal in the TD direction reached 761 MPa and 31.5%, respectively. The content of ferrite in the deposited metal under cooling condition was higher than that without cooling. The fracture mode of tensile samples with or without cooling in different deposition paths was ductile fracture.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>