Because they deal primarily with physical products, anyone in manufacturing knows that the industry as a whole has taken a hit from the effects of the pandemic.
Over the last 15 plus years, John Stoll has brought together an array of speakers with immense knowledge in the welding industry. On March 23rd, he looks forward to showcasing his 2nd Virtual Welding Symposium with ARC Specialties.
Thanks for the comments & questions regarding Additive Manufacturing (AM) and material properties. Our motto, see below, really is our mission statement. We learn when you send us problems.
Additive Manufacturing with High Strength Steel
or Tensile Testing the Texas Way
We decided to build a truss to see just how strong Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) built aluminum parts really are. Mike Willey created a truss design and used FEA to estimate that it would support over 1000 lbs. Kevin Sevcik then imported the model into Robotmaster offline programming software to create the robot path. Then using Lincoln Electric R350 Power Wave with Advanced Module running in AC pulse mode Jim Walker built a 5356 aluminum truss using the ARC-06 robot in our laboratory. Total build time was around 3 hours and for an 8 pound part. Finally, we tested the part in our own special Texan way to over 1,200 pounds WITHOUT FAILURE.
Watch the video for the whole story:
ARC Specialties thrives on problems, send us yours!
We have received requests for aluminum AM parts. Last week we developed the technology to build 3D aluminum parts using a FANUC America Corporation robot and a Lincoln Electric R350 Power Wave with Advanced Module running in AC pulse mode.
As we refined the process parameters we were pleasantly surprised to find that the best results coincided with higher wire and travel speeds. As productivity increased so did build quality. My professor once taught me that a small weld puddle has sufficient surface tension to negate the force of gravity. He was right. We are able to build horizontal just as well as vertical!
After welding & motion control the final piece of the AM puzzle is programming. We are working with Gregory Culp and the Robotmaster team to slice cad models and generate torch path and orientation to build complex 3D parts. Being able to build horizontal complicates programming but greatly expands feature build capacity.
The build parts have passed Liquid Penetrant (LP), side and face bend tests. UTS and YS, R of A and %Elong are typical for 5356 alloys.
If you have an aluminum part you would like to build with AM, contact me.
ARC Specialties thrives on problems, send us yours!
Dan Allford
