Investigation on Mechanical and Metallurgical Properties of CMT- WAAM of Copper Coated Mn–Si Alloy Steel
摘要
Wire Additive Arc Manufacturing (WAAM) is an alternative to the conventional manufacturing processes due to capabilities to produce complex objects. The major challenges in WAAM are the properties of the components fabricated. In this work, the mechanical and metallurgical properties of the components fabricated with copper coated Mn–Si alloy steel using WAAM under Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) are studied. The variation in the properties of components before and after heat treatment was also studied. The experimental results showed that an increase in welding current consumed more wire material and resulted in increased thickness and width of the deposited layers. The variations in hardness values were observed among different layers of the component at as deposited conditions due to cyclic thermal loading of previously deposited layers in case of multiple-layer deposition, whereas after heat treatment uniform hardness was found among different layers. The tensile and compressive strength of the component were increased after heat treatment due to restructuring of the layers and also due to formation of carbides. The experimental results showed that the heat treatment of WAAM components plays a significant role in producing homogeneous structures with improved properties of the components.