Parametric optimization of weld bead of aluminium 6061 fabricated through wire arc additive manufacturing

Abstract Additive fabrication with wire arc shown tremendous advancements in recent years. The current study investigates the effect of welding conditions on the width of an additively produced layer by using Gas Metal Arc Welding - Cold Metal Transfer welding. Further, the Taguchi method was used to optimize the effect of weld settings on layer width which was additively deposited. The wire spool is made of Aluminium 6061, which has a wide range of industrial applications. Flaws, porosity, waviness,and weld bead's discontinuity on a surface could be minimized by the assortment and optimization of parameters or else, strange forms would emerge during creation of slender wall construction utilising Wire Arc Additive manufacturing. In Taguchi, an L9 Orthogonal array was utilised to investigate the input parameters namely wire feed speed, weld speed and voltage. The main plots identify the best parameter combination, while the analysis of variance determines the significant parameters. For the response variable, a linear regression approach is used to create a numerical model. The minimum width of bead of 2.39 mm is achieved at weld velocity of 0.9 m/min with wire feed speed of 6 m/min and at voltage of 12 V. The maximum width of the bead was 6.40 mm, achieved at weld velocity of 0.6 m/min with wire feed speed of 8 m/min at a voltage of 16 V. After optimising the parameters, confirmation tests are run, and the outcomes are compared to the initial outcome.