Lincoln Electric Additive Solution’s March 2020 whitepaper explains the value of a specific 3D-printing method called wire arc additive manufacturing (AM) to the aerospace, automotive, heavy industry, and oil and gas industries. The method is a combination of gas metal arc welding (GMAW) and automation. GMAW, which was first developed in the 1940s, has since evolved considerably to be more versatile and allow for semi-automatic and automatic parts construction. Together, the GMAW process and automation can shorten delivery times, reduce waste and cut production loss. The author of the whitepaper, Dr. D. Mark Douglass, the business development manager for Lincoln, said wire arc additive manufacturing also offers greater design freedom and faster prototype testing than traditional methods of parts manufacturing.
Creating a part through wire arc AM begins with GMAW, which involves forming an electric arc, or an electrical breakdown of a gas, between a consumable metal inert gas (MIG) wire electrode and one or more workpiece metals. A consumable electrode is an electric conductor that is used to make contact with the nonmetallic part of a circuit. It is called consumable because it is consumed when the welding occurs.
The formation of the arc heats the workpiece metals, causing them to melt and join together. The automation part of the method comes with Lincoln’s use of 3D CAD software and a robotic arm with a GMAW torch. These tools put down successive layers of melted wire feedstock, raw material, onto a multi-axis positioner. The multi-axis positioner is a mechanical device that securely holds an object in position for welding. Wire arc AM works best to create metal parts larger than a basketball, which can be easily scaled to several meters.
Douglass shares various statistics to show that wire arc AM can shorten delivery times by a considerable amount. For example, the process of casting or forging a part can take weeks rather than months. Wire arc AM also wastes less material than traditional manufacturing methods, such as lathes, mills and routers.
Lincoln covers its bases by discussing each industry’s unique challenges. For example, in the section on heavy industry manufacturing, Douglass shares that manufacturers of equipment, such as bulldozers and dump trucks, have recently faced high costs because of steel and aluminum tariffs. Yet, these manufacturers’ products are also in high demand. Earth moving and road building machinery alone is expected to grow by 4 percent over the next four years. Lincoln’s GMAW services allow manufacturers to meet the need in a timely manner, which results in better customer relations for the manufacturers.
The Wire arc AM promotes new opportunities for prototyping and part productions. Manufacturers must keep up with new designs for reasons as varied as making an aircraft faster and safer to satisfying global emissions standards for tractors. Wire arc AM also gives engineers more freedom to design complex geometries. The method can reduce complicated multipart structures to a single part, thereby cutting both materials cost and time. Wire arc AM reduces supply chain risk from having to source parts from different vendors.
Douglass ends the whitepaper by noting Lincoln’s wealth of experience in welding and manufacturing. The Ohio company, which has existed for 125 years, has a long history of building trust and relationships with manufacturers in different fields. This is one of the many reasons it is uniquely positioned to offer high-quality and cost-effective services to its customers.For more information, access the white paper by Mark Douglass here: Addressing Production Challenges and Go-to-Market Limitations with Established Additive Manufacturing Service Providers.