Development of a novel twin-wire arc additive manufacturing system for in situ alloying

Over the past decade, the utilization of additive manufacturing has gained momentum due to its near-net manufacturing capabilities, design adaptability, and expedited production capabilities. Wire-based additive manufacturing techniques offer promising avenues for the fabrication of metal parts with high deposition rates, low costs of materials and equipment, and strong structural integrity. However, existing wire-based, mostly gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), and plasma-based techniques face many challenges due to process design complexities, expertise requirements, and higher costs. A twin-wire arc additive manufacturing (T-WAAM) system was developed using two gas metal arc welding (GMAW) systems because it was easier to weld, cheaper, and had higher deposition rates than the other wire-based techniques. Two GMAW systems were physically integrated, and torches were aligned 60° to each other for the wires to meet, melt, and form an alloy. The setup was calibrated with different parameters and was found to have a maximum error of 1% in distance, a decrease in time deviation with an increase in speed, and a decrease in percentage time deviation with distance. The process parameters