Comparative study of deposition patterns for DED-Arc additive manufacturing of Al-4046

Abstract Quality assurance is one of the largest challenges to the widespread adoption of metal additive manufacturing technology. Deposition pattern can significantly impact the temperature distribution during manufacturing process and thus the overall quality and residual stress formation of the manufactured components. In order to explore the intricate relationship, three different deposition patterns in DED-Arc additive manufacturing, the meander pattern, the spiral pattern and the newly developed S pattern, were experimentally and numerically scrutinized in terms of the resulting temperature distribution, grain size, porosity as well as residual stress formation. The study reveals that the variation of the deposition paths results in characteristic temperature fields and gradients with distinct local peak temperatures that determine the deposition quality, and simultaneously offers great degrees of freedom for optimal pattern design. Comparing the results with different deposition patterns, the S pattern leads to a more homogeneous temperature distribution, showing beneficial effects on the microstructure, porosity and residual stress formation in the deposited Al-4046 material, and is thus regarded as a promising alternative for improving additively manufactured parts quality.