Porosity Control of Wire + Arc Additively Manufactured Al-6.3Cu Alloy Deposition Using AC-GTAW Process

Al-6.3Cu alloy straight wall samples were produced using AC-GTAW process. The influence of heat input, environmental atmosphere, and wire feed speed on porosity characteristics of deposition samples were investigated. Results show that heat input is the most important factor affecting the porosity defect. Gas pore counts and their diameter can be reduced with proper heat input. With lower heat input, the gas pores can be further reduced in argon environment and at lower wire feed speed. The experimental results demonstrate that in argon environment, at travel speed of 0.30 m/min and wire feed speed of 2.0 m/min, the gas pores can be controlled effectively.