On the Use of Compressed Air and Synthetic Biodegradable Cutting Fluid to Enhance the Surface Quality of WAAM–CMT Manufactured Low-Alloy Steel Parts During Post-Processing Milling with Different Cooling–Lubrication Strategies
Additive manufacturing (AM) stands out for its variable applications in terms of material, quality, and geometry. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is remarkable for producing large parts in reduced times when compared to other AM methods. The possibility of producing a part with a near-net sha...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2504-4494/9/6/193 |
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| Summary: | Additive manufacturing (AM) stands out for its variable applications in terms of material, quality, and geometry. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) is remarkable for producing large parts in reduced times when compared to other AM methods. The possibility of producing a part with a near-net shape not only enhances productivity but also reduces resources usage. However, parts produced by WAAM may need post-processing by machining to achieve functional surface requirements. Therefore, it is important that machining, even if minimized, does not lead to a significant environmental impact. In this sense, this work evaluates the effect of using compressed air, dry cut, and synthetic biodegradable cutting fluid at varying nozzle positions and flow rates on the surface quality of ER70S-6 steel produced by WAAM, after milling with TiAlN-coated carbide tools. To analyze the surface roughness, parameters Ra, Rq, and Rz were measured and microscopy was used to further evaluate the surfaces. The surface hardness was also evaluated. The results showed that a flow rate of 10 L/min promotes better surface quality, which can be further improved using compressed air, leading to a surface quality 50% better when compared to dry cutting. Dry cut was not suitable for machining ER70S-6 WAAM material as it resulted in rough surface texture with an Rz = 4.02 µm. Compressed air was the best overall condition evaluated, achieving a 36% Ra reduction compared to dry cutting, the second-lowest hardness deviation at 6.51%, and improved sustainability by eliminating the need for cutting fluid. |
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| ISSN: | 2504-4494 |