An investigation on effects of process parameters in fused-coating based metal additive manufacturing

Fused-coating based additive manufacturing (FCAM) is a novel metal solid freeform fabrication technology that builds metal parts by selectively deposition the material layer by layer from the CAD model. It gives an alternative to build metal components with low costs, high efficiency, clean and cheap materials compared with other AM processes. An experimental system including a molten metal generator, a fused-coating nozzle, a three-axis motion platform, an inert atmosphere protection and temperature measurement unit and the controlling hardware and software has been established. This paper presents the basic principle and some experimental results of the FCAM process as well as its potential applications. The effects of different processing parameters on the forming layer width and thickness were investigated. The process parameters include: the molten metal flow rate, the substrate moving speed, the gas pressure, the gap between nozzle and substrate, the nozzle temperature, the substrate temperature, the property of material and the scanning strategy. The optimal parameters were chosen to fabricate thin-wall work pieces based on the parameters analysis and experiment. This paper presents the basic principle and some experimental results of the FCAM process as well as its potential applications. Preliminary experiments prove that metal components can be built with high efficiency and good metallurgical bonding.