In situ distortion control in wire arc additive manufacturing using coordinated heat source on reverse side of the substrate

Purpose – In the wire arc additive manufacturing process, a substrate is subjected to local rapid heating and cooling, resulting in warping distortion, which leads to dimensional deviations and affects the continuity of the additive manufacturing process. This paper aims to adopt a novel in situ distortion control method for wire arc additive manufacturing to improve processing accuracy. Design/methodology/approach – The core of the proposed method is the addition of a coordinated heat source on the reverse side of the substrate, which heats the material on the back side after additive manufacturing. This approach uses cooling and shrinkage of the material to reduce distortion. The principle of the proposed method was validated through finite element simulation and experimental results. Findings – Finite element results show that the additive manufacturing process induces a significant thermal stress difference between the front and reverse sides of the substrate. The proposed method effectively suppressed warpage deformation by reducing the stress difference by more than 50%. The experimental results show that the warpage of the unfixed edge of the substrate was reduced from 23.3 to 0.9 mm, and the distortion was reduced by 96.14%. The maximum dimensional deviation of the block structure, which was 3.71 mm, has been eliminated. Originality/value – This work provides a novel method for controlling the distortion of both the substrate and wire arc additive manufactured parts, ensuring the continuity of the process and manufacturing accuracy.