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Complex interaction between CMT equipment and robot controllers during the WAAM process: consequences for toolpath accuracy

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Abstract

The WAAM additive manufacturing process is considered one of the most efficient and productive processes. Its implementation is based on the use of a Cold Metal Transfert (CMT) device by a robot. The geometrical quality and the mechanical behavior of the manufactured parts depend on the uniformity of the material deposition rate and the uniformity of the energy input, throughout the realization of the part. This paper discusses the interactions between the CMT device and the robot during the manufacturing process. The reaction times between the two systems are not the same, and depending on a specific parameterization, the real trajectory is disturbed by the start or stop of the electric arc. An experimental study on 8 trajectories and 3 parameters allows us to analyze the behavior of the robot, the accuracy of the trajectory, and the acceleration and deceleration phases. As a general conclusion, compromises must be found in terms of continuous/discontinuous deposition and deposition outside the nominal deposition area or not. Based on the tests performed in this study, the semi-circular strategy appears to be the most relevant in the case of continuous deposition over the whole toolpath. Finally, a model has been proposed to compute the manufacturing time of any area of the layer based on a preliminary identification for a single area.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the French Research Agency through the Indus Addi project (N° ANR-19-CE10-0001-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. ESTIA Institute of Technology, Univ. Bordeaux, F-64210, Bidart, France

    Ricardo Da Silva Viola, Fabien Poulhaon & Pierre Michaud

  2. Clermont Auvergne INP, Université Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, Institut Pascal, 63000, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Ricardo Da Silva Viola, Xavier Balandraud & Emmanuel Duc

Authors
  1. Ricardo Da Silva Viola
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  4. Pierre Michaud
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Contributions

R. Viola Da Silva: conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, software, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing, and visualization.

X. Balandraud: conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, writing—review and editing, visualization, and supervision.

F. Poulhaon: conceptualization, methodology, validation, formal analysis, resources, writing—review and editing, and supervision.

P. Michaud: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, resources, writing—review and editing, and project administration.

E. Duc: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, resources, writing—review and editing, project administration, and funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emmanuel Duc.

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Appendices

Appendices

Table A1 Comparison between different strategies and two nominal speeds for the small OR (21.5×43 mm2): measured parameters are the total time and length over the whole toolpath, as well as the total volume of material deposited (i.e., when arc ON is activated)
Full size table
Table A2 Same as Table A1, but for the large OR (43×86 mm2)
Full size table
Table A3 Impact of switching between arc ON and arc OFF for the four strategies featuring a toolpath outside the OR: comparison is made for two nominal speeds and two OR areas (21.5×43 mm2 and 43×86 mm2, simply written “small” and “large,” respectively, in the table)
Full size table

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Viola, R.D.S., Balandraud, X., Poulhaon, F. et al. Complex interaction between CMT equipment and robot controllers during the WAAM process: consequences for toolpath accuracy. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 127, 5611–5631 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11928-7

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