Study on the printing stability of Invar 36 alloy under different process parameter conditions in gas metal arc additive manufacturing

Abstract

Invar 36, a nickel–iron alloy distinguished by its low coefficient of thermal expansion, is a material of significant interest for high-precision applications in aerospace, moulds used in composite material fabrication processes and metrology. This work investigates the stability of depositing Invar 36 through gas metal arc additive manufacturing (GMA-AM), also known as wire arc additive manufacturing, with a focus on identifying process conditions, in a standard gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process, that promote consistent and defect-minimised builds. A series of experiments was conducted to assess the effects of key process parameters – including wire feed speed, welding speed and arc voltage – on deposition stability. Stability was evaluated through geometrical consistency of the deposited walls, arc behaviour and visual inspection of process-induced anomalies such as spatter and lack of fusion. This study presents a novel methodology to quantitatively assess the stability of the GMA-AM process, along with the construction of a process map specifically tailored for the Invar 36 alloy. The insights gained contribute to advancing the understanding of wire-based additive manufacturing of Invar 36, which is still understudied, and provide a foundation for further investigations into its mechanical performance and microstructural evolution under optimised process parameter conditions.

Keywords

Invar 36 / Gas metal arc additive manufacturing / Process stability / Wire arc additive manufacturing / Deposition quality / Process parameters

Funding

Not applicable

Conflict of Interest

Dr. Giulio Mattera serves as the Editorial Board Member of the journal but did not in any way involve in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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