Dot-By-Dot Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Finite Element Simulation for Thermal Cycle Prediction

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) permits the production of high-performance, dense, metal structures of large size. Dot-by-dot WAAM is an innovative deposition strategy where short, interrupted weld beads (i.e., dots) are printed instead of the classic continuous bead to manufacture bars and lattice structures. This paper proposes a Finite Element simulation of the dot-by-dot WAAM process to accurately predict the heat-affected zone and interpass temperature, responsible for the geometry and quality of the product. The proposed approach, developed within the Simufact Welding environment, shows the influence of heat input, heat exchange conditions, material properties and idle time between dots. Multiple bars cases are investigated with variation on process parameters, dot size and idle time. Experimental validation on such cases proved the accuracy of the proposed approach in predicting the thermal cycle of the process and showed its impact on product quality.