Increased efficiency in additiv manufacturing through electrical preheating of wire feedstock

Important results from the project

The project has developed a new high-power control of electrical preheating of the feedstock material for additive manufacturing with laser and metal wire. The goal of achieving an efficient, robust and reliable product solution has been demonstrated. Furthermore, the new solution only requires air cooling, unlike today´s systems that require water cooling. New process phenomena when melting wire with high preheating current have also been observed, which opens up new research in the area.

Expected long term effects

Higher preheating currents in additive manufacturing (AM) with laser and metal wire gives higher efficiency and thus a more environmentally friendly manufacturing process. The cost of an AM system also decreases since the most expensive component is usually the laser source. A future cheaper AM system will enable this process even in industries where AM is currently not economically justifiable but where the environmental benefits are still high due to, for example, high levels of waste.

Approach and implementation

The project is divided into 6 work packages: System design, Electronics design, Hardware integration and bench tests, Control system integration in AM equipment, Validation tests and admin and dissemination. The technical development has gone according to plan. A prototype has been developed and tested in relevant AM equipment. New physical phenomena have been observed when melting wire with high currents that were not expected and took up part of the planned validation time for investigation.