Overlapping in Wire-arc Directed Energy Deposition Using Rotating Electrode

Adoption of additive manufacturing has enabled the fabrication of high-performance components with complex geometries. Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding technology has been introduced to enhance the mechanical properties of the final products; however, it presents significant limitations in terms of achievable geometries. The rotary TIG technology addresses these limitations by rotating the electrode around the vertically fed filler wire. A series of overlapping beads were deposited while varying the electrode position to investigate the influence of process parameters in cladding using Rotary TIG, and the molten pool behavior was analyzed through thermal monitoring and high-speed imaging. The results show that positioning the electrode on the side of the previously deposited bead leads to flatter surfaces, achieving a max peak-valley distance of 0.343mm, allowing RTIG to be used in a regular TIG configuration. Placing it on the opposite side improves process robustness, allowing deposition under more constrained conditions, such as the repair of worn or geometrically irregular surfaces. Activating electrode rotation reduced the required current intensity for deposition while further enhancing surface flatness compared to the fixed-electrode configuration, achieving a max peak-valley distance of just 0.16 mm. Additionally, thermal analysis revealed a shading effect in the working zone, which was previously theorized in the literature, with significant implications for the wire melting dynamics.

Cladding; Gas Tungsten Arc Welding; Rotary Tungsten Inert Gas; Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing

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