In this research, a thermal analysis of the wire and arc additive manufacturing process is presented based on the F.E. method.

An important quality of the F.E. model that is presented in this research is to describe the temperature field that is experienced by the deposited material in the wire and arc additive manufacturing process. In contrast to the traditional method of monitoring the substrate temperature, the F.E. model allows to describe the temperature field that is experienced by the deposited material constituting both the multilayer weld deposit and the component. Accordingly, the F.E. model is capable to describe the effect of the locally attained temperature field on the microstructure of the deposited material constituting the multilayer weld deposit in terms of the thermal characteristics including the temperature distribution, the locally attained temperature values, the cooling rates and the temperature gradients throughout the component.

Two cooling methods are proposed to control the heat dissipation from the component to the environment based on the application of an interlayer waiting time and immersing the component into a cooling medium. The results show a significant effect of the cooling methods on the temperature field that is experienced by the material constituting both the multilayer weld deposit and the component. Indicating that the cooling methods that are proposed in this research are effective to control the microstructure and the temperature field that is experienced by the component in the wire and arc additive manufacturing process. The resulting microstructure is characterised in terms of the microstructural morphology and the microstructural constituents, using optical microscopy based on the average grain size and the distribution of alloying elements throughout the material constituting the multilayer weld deposit. In addition, the average grain size and the distribution of the alloying elements throughout the material are evaluated in terms of the hardness values.