Addilan demonstrates stability of its Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing process
November 30, 2019
Addilan, Durango, Spain, recently released research results said to demonstrate the stability of its Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) process for metals including titanium, steel alloys, nickel superalloys, invar and aluminium. Addilan’s WAAM machine is capable of producing medium-to-large complex parts at deposition rates of up to 6 kg per hour, reducing raw material consumption and lead-time.
Laboratory results from Tecnalia, a privately funded applied research & technology organisation, appear to show that the stability of Addilan’s WAAM process makes it possible to rapidly produce parts with good mechanical properties for aerospace, oil & gas, naval and railway applications.
“Our research focused on analysing material characteristics unique to wire arc welding in order to better understand how to stabilise the process and ensure the quality and repeatability of key process parameters,” explained Alfredo Suárez, Head of WAAM at Tecnalia Research and Innovation.
Research results compared WAAM to block, foundry and forging measuring in terms of:
- Oxygen level (for Ti)
- Fatigue life
- Fracture toughness
- Tensile strength
- Elongation at break
- Microstructure composition
- Charpy impact testing
“For companies interested in end-to-end digital manufacturing, flexibility in manufacturing, production automation and industry 4.0, WAAM is one of the best value propositions for final and replacement part production,” stated Amagoia Paskual, Addilan CEO. “We can now customise Additive Manufacturing solutions and build components using different materials, on the same machine, while ensuring the stability and integrity of each part.”
