ENHANCING THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OFDIRECTED ENERGY DEPOSITION ARC (DED-Arc) VIA PROCESSING INNOVATIONS

11th International Scientific Conference Research and Development of Mechanical Elements and Systems IRMES (2025) [pp. XXXV-XLVIII]   

AUTHOR(S) / АУТОР(И): Damjan KLOBČAR , Uroš TRDAN , Mirza IMŠIROVIĆ , Drago BRAČUN , Mohammad REZA GHAVI , Tomaž VUHERER , Marek POLANSKI , Aleksija ĐURIĆ , Matija BUŠIĆ , Miodrag MILČIĆ

Download Full Pdf   

DOI: 10.46793/IRMES25.plB2K

ABSTRACT / САЖЕТАК:

Directed Energy Deposition (DED) processes offer the advantage of producing larger parts with higher deposition rates compared to Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) additive manufacturing (AM). However, DED typically results in simpler geometries and lower resolution. When using Wire and Arc- based DED, even larger components can be manufactured at an accelerated rate, but the higher heat input may lead to undesirable microstructures, adversely affecting mechanical properties.

To ensure defect-free depositions, precise process control is essential, including optimizing deposition paths, regulating inter-layer temperature, and maintaining a consistent nozzle-to-layer distance. One effective approach to improving material integrity is the application of in-situ vibrations during deposition. This technique helps reduce porosity and grain size while also enhancing surface waviness and mitigating residual stress buildup. Further refinement of material properties can be achieved through appropriate thermo-mechanical processing, leading to mechanical characteristics comparable to conventionally produced steel. This paper explores the impact of in-situ vibrations and heat treatment through case studies, analysing their effects on surface waviness, residual stress distribution, porosity, microstructure, grain size, mechanical properties, and fracture toughness. The findings demonstrate the significant benefits of these process enhancements in improving the mechanical performance of DED- fabricated components.

KEYWORDS / КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ:

Directed Energy Deposition (DED); Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM); in-situ vibrations; heat treatment; porosity reduction; residual stress; grain refinement; surface waviness; mechanical properties; fracture toughness; Computed Tomography (CT) Scan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT / ПРОЈЕКАТ:

The research of the authors was partially funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS) under grant number P2-0270, and bilateral project Weave N2- 0328, and by ARIS and the European Union Next Generation EU through DIGITOP project. This work was also partly supported by the Slovenian Research Agency, under grant number BI-BA/24-25-034. The paper was also partly supported by EU ERASMUS+ Strategic Partnership Key Action 2, number:2024-1-RO01-KA220- HED-000244949 (SMARTIE) and 2023-1-RO01-KA220- HED-000158031 (ANGIE).

REFERENCES / ЛИТЕРАТУРА:

  • A. Biserova-Tahchieva, M. V. Biezma-Moraleda, N. Llorca-Isern, J. Gonzalez-Lavin, and P. Linhardt, “Additive Manufacturing Processes in Selected Corrosion Resistant Materials: A State of Knowledge Review,” Materials (Basel)., vol. 16, no. 5, 2023, doi: 10.3390/ma16051893.
  • D. Klobčar et al., “A Review of Recent Advances and Future Trends in Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing,” vol. 163, pp. 21–37, 2025, doi: 10.4028/p-Gq1x0e.
  • V. V. Popov et al., “Powder bed fusion additive manufacturing using critical raw materials: A review,” Materials (Basel)., vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 1–37, 2021, doi: 10.3390/ma14040909.
  • C. Shen, Z. Pan, D. Cuiuri, J. Roberts, and H. Li, “Fabrication of Fe-FeAl Functionally Graded Material Using the Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing Process,” Metall. Mater. Trans. B Process Metall. Mater. Process. Sci., vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 763–772, 2016, doi: 10.1007/s11663-015-0509-5.
  • L. Squires, E. Roberts, and A. Bandyopadhyay, “Radial bimetallic structures via wire arc directed energy deposition-based additive manufacturing,” Nat. Commun., vol. 14, no. 1, 2023, doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-39230-w.
  • T. Lehmann et al., “Large-scale metal additive manufacturing: a holistic review of the state of the art and challenges,” Int. Mater. Rev., vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 410–459, 2022, doi: 10.1080/09506608.2021.1971427.
  • L. Squires, V. K. Champagne, and A. Bandyopadhyay, “In Situ microstructure control during electric-arc- directed energy deposition,” Virtual Phys. Prototyp., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1–19, 2025, doi: 10.1080/17452759.2025.2499929.
  • K. S. Derekar, “A review of wire arc additive manufacturing and advances in wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminium,” Mater. Sci. Technol. (United Kingdom), vol. 34, no. 8, pp. 895–916, 2018, doi: 10.1080/02670836.2018.1455012.
  • H. Sharma et al., “Influence of post heat treatment on metallurgical, mechanical, and corrosion analysis of wire arc additive manufactured inconel 625,” J. Mater. Res. Technol., vol. 27, no. November, pp. 5910–5923, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2023.11.074.
  • U. Ziesing, J. Lentz, A. Röttger, W. Theisen, and S. Weber, “Processing of a Martensitic Tool Steel by Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing,” Materials (Basel)., vol. 15, no. 21, 2022, doi: 10.3390/ma15217408.
  • M. Godec et al., “Hybrid additive manufacturing of Inconel 718 for future space applications,” Mater. Charact., vol. 172, 2021,  doi: 10.1016/j.matchar.2020.110842.
  • M. Lindi, “Journal of Advanced Joining Processes Heat treatment optimisation of 18 % Ni maraging steel produced by  DED-ARC  for  enhancing mechanical properties ˇ ˇ,” vol. 11, no. May, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jajp.2025.100312.
  • T. Özel, H. Shokri, and R. Loizeau, “A Review on Wire-Fed Directed Energy Deposition Based Metal Additive Manufacturing,” J. Manuf. Mater. Process., vol. 7, no. 1, 2023, doi: 10.3390/jmmp7010045.
  • C. K. Kim et al., “3D weaving path optimization for enhanced surface quality in wire arc-based directed energy deposition,” J. Mater. Process. Technol., vol. 340, no. April, p. 118838, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2025.118838.
  • O. C. Ozaner, D. Klobčar, and A. Sharma, “Machining Strategy Determination for Single- and Multi-Material Wire and Arc Additive Manufactured Thin-Walled Parts,” Materials (Basel)., vol. 16, no. 5, 2023, doi: 10.3390/ma16052055.
  • M. Köhler, A. Sarmast, J. Schubnell, and K. Dilger, “Influence of energy input and interpass temperature on the mechanical properties of DED-arc manufactured 316L stainless steel,” Weld. World, p. Submitted, 2024, doi: 10.1007/s40194-025-02066-7.
  • D. Kovšca, B. Starman, D. Klobčar, M. Halilovič, and N. Mole, “Towards an automated framework for the finite element computational modelling of directed energy deposition,” Finite Elem. Anal. Des., vol. 221, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.finel.2023.103949.
  • R. P. Reis and L. J. da Silva, Thermal management approaches for arc additive manufacturing: a comprehensive review over a decade of developments and applications. Springer London, 2025. doi: 10.1007/s00170-024-14791-2.
  • B. O. Omiyale, T. O. Olugbade, T. E. Abioye, and P. Farayibi, “Wire arc additive manufacturing of aluminium alloys for aerospace and automotive applications: a review,” Mater. Sci. Technol. (United Kingdom), vol. 38, no. 7, pp. 391–408, 2022, doi: 10.1080/02670836.2022.2045549.
  • C. Ma et al., “Investigation of In Situ Vibration During Wire and Arc Additive Manufacturing,” vol. 10, no. 3,  pp.  524–535,  2023,  doi: 10.1089/3dp.2021.0053.
  • M. Imširović, U. Trdan, D. Klobčar, D. Bračun, A. Nagode, and L. Berthe, “Mitigating defects in directed energy deposited aluminium 5356 alloy through in-situ workpiece vibration,” J. Mater. Res. Technol., vol. 33, no. August, pp. 1581–1599, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jmrt.2024.09.179.
  • F. Lyu, L. Wang, J. Wang, Y. Zhang, J. Zhang, and Zhan, “Integrated control mechanism of ultrasound and ZrO 2 particles on differential microstructures for the wire arc additive manufacturing,” vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 1–23, 2023.
  • R. Porosity, A. Arc, and P. Frequency, “Reducing Porosity and Refining Grains for Arc Additive Manufacturing Aluminum Alloy by Adjusting Arc Pulse Frequency and Current,” 2018, doi: 10.3390/ma11081344.
  • Y. Wang, D. Wu, J. Chen, H. Komen, M. Chen, and Su, “Pore suppression and performance improvement mechanisms in wire-arc directed energy deposition of 7075 alloy,” Virtual Phys. Prototyp., vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1–24, 2025, doi: 10.1080/17452759.2025.2464953.
  • M. A. Chipanski et al., “DED-IM: A Novel Method for Mapping and Path Planning in Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposition,” IEEE Trans. Autom. Sci. Eng., vol. 22, pp. 13286–13297, 2025, doi: 10.1109/TASE.2025.3553309.
  • S. C. A. Costello, C. R. Cunningham, F. Xu, A. Shokrani, V. Dhokia, and S. T. Newman, “The state- of-the-art of wire arc directed energy deposition (WA-DED) as an additive manufacturing process for large metallic component manufacture,” Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf., vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 469–510, 2023, doi: 10.1080/0951192X.2022.2162597.
  • J. T. Kahnamouei and M. Moallem, “Advancements in control systems and integration of artificial intelligence in welding robots: A review,” Ocean Eng., vol. 312, no. P3, p. 119294, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.119294.
  • T. F. Lam, Y. Xiong, A. G. Dharmawan, S. Foong, and G. S. Soh, “Adaptive process control implementation of wire arc additive manufacturing for thin-walled components with overhang features,” Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., vol. 108, no. 4, pp. 1061–1071, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s00170-019-04737-4.
  • A. Ščetinec, D. Klobčar, and D. Bračun, “In-process path replanning and online layer height control through deposition arc current for gas metal arc based additive manufacturing,” J. Manuf. Process., vol. 64, no. March, pp. 1169–1179, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.jmapro.2021.02.038.
  • J. Qin et al., “Automated Interlayer Wall Height Compensation for Wire Based Directed Energy Deposition Additive Manufacturing,” Sensors, vol. 23, no. 20, 2023, doi: 10.3390/s23208498.
  • P. Nagaraj, S. K. Gurunathan, and M. Amirthalingam, “Physically derived instantaneous modelling of complex current-voltage waveform- controlled arc-wire DED process—residual stress and distortion analysis,” Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., pp. 687–708, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s00170-025-15547-2.
  • T. Zhao et al., “A comprehensive review of process planning and trajectory optimization in arc-based directed energy deposition,” J. Manuf. Process., vol. 119, no. February, pp. 235–254, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jmapro.2024.03.093.
  • Isaac Chang Yuyuan Zhao, Ed., Advances in Powder Metallurgy, Properties, Processing and Applications, 1st Editio. Woodhead Publishing, 2013.
  • T. A. Rodrigues, V. Duarte, R. M. Miranda, T. G. Santos, and J. P. Oliveira, “Current status and perspectives on wire and arc additive manufacturing (WAAM),” Materials (Basel)., vol. 12, no. 7, 2019, doi: 10.3390/ma12071121.
  • T. Zhao, Z. Yan, Y. Zhao, Y. Jia, and S. Chen, “Path planning in additive manufacturing with multi-robot collaboration based on structural primitive partitioning,” Adv. Eng. Softw., vol. 197, no. August, 103754, 2024,                   doi: 10.1016/j.advengsoft.2024.103754.
  • T. Wang et al., “Robot-assisted additive manufacturing for aerospace applications: recent trends and its future possibilities,” Int. J. Comput. Integr. Manuf., vol. 00, no. 00, pp. 1–41, 2025, doi: 10.1080/0951192X.2025.2478007.
  • K. Kelly, A. Thien, D. K. Saleeby, and D. C. Saldana, “A novel approach to path planning related to the intersections of aluminum WAAM,” Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., pp. 2579–2593, 2025, doi: 10.1007/s00170-025-15285-5.
  • H. Lund, S. Penttilä, and T. Skriko, “Extended reality implementation possibilities in direct energy deposition-arc,” Front. Sustain., vol. 5, no. June, 2024, doi: 10.3389/frsus.2024.1408604.