Title:
Build Plate Conduction Cooling for Thermal Management of Wire Arc Additive Manufactured Components
Build Plate Conduction Cooling for Thermal Management of Wire Arc Additive Manufactured Components
Author(s)
Heinrich, Lauren E.
Advisor(s)
Saldana, Christopher
Kurfess, Thomas
Fu, Katherine
Kurfess, Thomas
Fu, Katherine
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Abstract
Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is often implemented due to its lower investment cost and equipment availability as compared to other metal additive manufacturing techniques. WAAM adds large amounts of thermal energy to a component during the build process, and depending on the size of the component, the cool-down time can be more significant than the deposition time, decreasing productivity. Conduction cooling applied to the build plate was proposed as a strategy to decrease overall part temperature faster than natural energy dissipation, enabling shorter cool down time with comparable part quality. Based on the challenges presented above, the major research question addressed in this thesis is: How does build plate conduction cooling affect process outcomes of WAAM depositions including process time and quality? This thesis presents the results of conduction cooling applied to the build plate of WAAM components using Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) as the additive process. The present results show that build plate conduction cooling can be used to thermally isolate fixturing, decrease the dwell time by 50%, and decrease the cool down to room temperature time by 75%. Build plate cooling was shown to keep the fixturing at 33% the temperature of the conventional sample, indicating that cooling can be used to thermally isolate the fixturing from the build plate of the deposition. The thermal results of the deposition were also accurately modeled using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to help determine the maximum temperatures achieved during the depositions. The user can set up the cooling system before the deposition begins and the approach does not require user adjustment throughout the deposition time making this system more user friendly than other processes investigated in literature. The system can also be implemented in retrofit systems without major system modification which decreases cost compared to other thermal isolating techniques.
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Date Issued
2021-10-22
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Thesis