Improvement of mechanical properties and microstructure of wire arc additive manufactured 2319 aluminum alloy by mechanical vibration acceleration

Mechanical vibration was utilized to enhance the mechanical properties of the WAAM 2319 aluminum alloy and address issues related to coarse grains and porosity in this paper. The research aims to investigate the impact of varying vibration accelerations on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the specimens. The mechanism of solutes transfer caused by vibration has been described in this paper, which significantly improved elongation. The dendrites during growth were broken by vibration, which led to microstructure refinement. The solutes located in the interstices of the dendrites were transferred to the liquid phase by vibration, reducing the concentration of solutes in the interstices of the dendrites. The continuous coarse precipitation phase becomes intermittent and fine; resulting in increased matrix plasticity. With the increase of vibration acceleration, the elongation was significantly enhanced. The longitudinal elongation was enhanced more significantly because of the alternating distribution of INZ and ITZ, with longitudinal elongation showing a 29.3% increase and transverse elongation a 52.5% increase, while the UTS and YS was not changed significantly in the presence of multiple factors.