DEVELOPMENT OF WIRE + ARC ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING USING THE ROBOTIZED GMAW-PULSED PROCESS OF MULTILAYERS OF 316LSi STAINLESS STEEL
Pulsed GMAW, MADA, wire arc additive manufacturing, austenitic stainless steels
Additive Manufacturing has become a mechanical production technology that allows meeting mechanical requirements of large parts and components used in the naval industry. More specifically, wire arc additive manufacturing has the potential to be applied in the manufacture of nautical propulsion components, as it provides high deposition rates and parts with better mechanical properties than those resulting from traditional manufacturing processes. Currently, production and assembly of marine components are carried out by traditional manufacturing processes, including manual processes, which negatively impact the quality and productivity of vessel parts. The objective of this work is to evaluate the mechanical, metallurgical properties, as well as corrosion resistance of multilayer structures manufactured via wire arc additive manufacturing, using the Pulsed-GMAW process. The parameterization took place via alternating and successive depositions with the selection of different parameters of frequency, operating speed and feeding speed, resulting in different conditions of height, width, heat input and ferrite number. Microhardness measurements and evaluations of surface aspects of the build-ups were carried out for each condition. The influence of each chosen parameter was evaluated through a design of experiments, seeking an optimized condition for the manufacture of a 74-layer wall, which was used to conduct tensile, impact toughness and corrosion resistance tests. Modified ferrite morphologies were observed, in which vermicular, lacy and acicular ferrites were transformed into globular morphologies. This directly influences the tensile and impact mechanical properties, in which manufacturing anisotropy occurs between the vertical and horizontally oriented samples. The fracture aspects of the Charpy test specimens were characterized as ductile. The corrosion resistance of the multilayer structure was analyzed and compared, finding a non-linear relationship between the ferrite content and the passivation potential.