Influence of Ship-based Vibration on Characteristics of Arc and Droplet and Morphology in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

To explore the feasibility of using wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) for forming and repairing marine components during ship navigation, this study conducted deposition experiments of ER50-6 steel and investigated the interference of ship-based vibrations on the WAAM equipment and influence of the characteristics of the arc droplets and sample morphology. The results revealed that the WAAM equipment vibrated with the external vibrations from the surrounding environment, and the welding gun and base plate produced dissimilar vibrations, which yielded unstable arc shapes resembling a bell, trumpet, fan, broom, and other irregular shapes. The mode of the droplet transfer ranged from the stable spray transfer mode to extensive amounts of large droplet transfer and short-circuit transfer. Although the morphology of the obtained sample deteriorated, the fully dense and defect-free interior demonstrated the applicability of ship-based WAAM.