Comparison of Mechanical Properties of Ni-Al-Bronze Alloy Fabricated through Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing with Ni-Al-Bronze Alloy Fabricated through Casting

Abstract

This study compared the mechanical properties of the NAB (Ni-Al-bronze) material fabricated using wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology with those of the cast NAB. Using a CMT (cold metal transfer) welding process, this study analyzed the bead shape for six welding conditions, determined an appropriate bead shape, and fabricated a square bulk NAB material using the bead shape. For a mechanical properties comparison, the study obtained two test specimens per welding direction from the fabricated bulk NAB material, and compared those with the cast NAB materials. In the tensile test, the deposited NAB material showed significantly better results than the cast NAB; furthermore, the deposited NAB material showed better performance than the cast NAB material in the Vickers hardness test, impact test and wear test. In addition, the deposited NAB showed anisotropy depending on the welding direction, and showed high tensile strength, hardness and shock absorption in the longitudinal direction of the welding line.

Keywords

• AM (additive manufacturing)
• wire-arc welding
• NAB (Ni-Al-bronze welding)