TY - JOUR
T1 - Open source arc analyzer: Multi-sensor monitoring of wire arc additive manufacturing
AU - Pringle, Adam M.
AU - Oberloier, Shane
AU - Petsiuk, Aliaksei L.
AU - Sanders, Paul G.
AU - Pearce, Joshua M.
PY - 2020/10
Y1 - 2020/10
N2 - Low-cost high-resolution metal 3-D printing remains elusive for the scientific community. Low-cost gas metal arc wire (GMAW)-based 3-D printing enables wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) for near net shape applications, but has limited resolution due to the complexities of the arcing process. To begin to monitor and thus control these complexities, the initial designs of the open source GMAW 3-D printer have evolved to include current and voltage monitoring. Building on this prior work, in this study, the design, fabrication and use of the open source arc analyzer is described. The arc analyzer is a multi-sensor monitoring system for quantifying the processing during WAAM, which includes voltage, current, sound, light intensity, radio frequency, and temperature data outputs. The open source arc analyzer is tested here on aluminum WAAM by varying wire feed rate and measuring the resultant changes in the sensor data. Visual inspection and microstructural analysis of the printed samples looking for the presence of porosity are used as the physical indicators of quality. The value of the sensors was assessed and the most impactful sensors were found to be the light and radio frequency sensors, which showed arc extinction events and a characteristic “good weld” peak frequency.
AB - Low-cost high-resolution metal 3-D printing remains elusive for the scientific community. Low-cost gas metal arc wire (GMAW)-based 3-D printing enables wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) for near net shape applications, but has limited resolution due to the complexities of the arcing process. To begin to monitor and thus control these complexities, the initial designs of the open source GMAW 3-D printer have evolved to include current and voltage monitoring. Building on this prior work, in this study, the design, fabrication and use of the open source arc analyzer is described. The arc analyzer is a multi-sensor monitoring system for quantifying the processing during WAAM, which includes voltage, current, sound, light intensity, radio frequency, and temperature data outputs. The open source arc analyzer is tested here on aluminum WAAM by varying wire feed rate and measuring the resultant changes in the sensor data. Visual inspection and microstructural analysis of the printed samples looking for the presence of porosity are used as the physical indicators of quality. The value of the sensors was assessed and the most impactful sensors were found to be the light and radio frequency sensors, which showed arc extinction events and a characteristic “good weld” peak frequency.
KW - 3-D printing, gas metal arc weld, GMAW, metal inert gas welding, MIG welding, additive manufacturing, metal printing
KW - Metal 3-D printing, low cost metal 3-D printer, open-source metal 3-D printer, GMAW 3-D printing
KW - Open-source hardware
KW - RepRap
KW - WAAM
KW - Welder
KW - Welding
KW - Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85091505709&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00137
DO - 10.1016/j.ohx.2020.e00137
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85091505709
SN - 2468-0672
VL - 8
JO - HardwareX
JF - HardwareX
M1 - e00137
ER -