Year
2020
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering
Abstract
Robotic wire and arc based additive manufacturing has been used in fabricating of metallic parts owing to its advantages of lower capital investment, higher deposition rates, and better material properties. Although many achievements have been made, the build direction of Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is still limited in the vertical up direction, resulting in extra supporting structure usage while fabricating metallic parts with overhanging features. Thus, the current WAAM technology should be also called 2.5D printing rather than 3D printing. In order to simplify the deposition set up and increase the flexibility of the WAAM process, it is necessary to find an alternative approach for the deposition of ‘overhangs’ in a true 3D space. This dissertation attempts to realize true 3D printing by developing a novel multi directional WAAM system using robotic Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) to additively manufacture metal components in multiple directions. Several key steps including process development, welding defect investigation and avoidance, and robot path generation are presented in this study.
Recommended Citation
Yuan, Lei, Realization of the true 3D printing using multi directional wire and arc additive manufacturing, Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, 2020. https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses1/1126
FoR codes (2008)
0910 MANUFACTURING ENGINEERING
Unless otherwise indicated, the views expressed in this thesis are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Wollongong.