The main disadvantages of these technologies include the high cost of consumables and small print volumes. Therefore, the method of layered electric arc surfacing with the use of filler materials in the form of wire is more suitable for mass production. The scientific team of Samara Polytechnic University under the leadership of Konstantin Nikitin, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport
the technology of obtaining high-quality blanks based on aluminum alloy is being developed.
“The method of layered electric arc surfacing consists in the fact that the metal wire melts under the action of an electric arc and, touching the metal substrate or the previous hardened layer, freezes with high cooling rates. Due to this, a microdisperse cast structure is formed in the structure of the deposited workpiece, which should provide increased mechanical and operational properties of the future product, however, in practice, defects in the form of gas and shrinkage pores, non-melting layers are often formed in the deposited layers.
The presence of gradient parameters (arc temperature, heat sink intensity, cooling rate) can also cause distortion of the geometry of the deposited workpiece. And here the correctly selected modes of the surfacing process are crucial: in the synergetic mode of operation, the quality of the deposited workpieces is ensured by the arc current,” explains Konstantin Nikitin
At the moment, scientists are conducting experiments to create blanks from aluminum-silicon filler wire. “Today, one of our promising areas is the development of technology for obtaining extended (large–sized in one dimension) blanks based on aluminum alloys using the method of layered electric arc surfacing,” Nikitin notes. – We have determined the optimal current strength of the welding arc, which ensures a uniform distribution of the silicon content in the aluminum matrix along the height of the deposited layer, uniform microstructure, density, microhardness, and, as a result, the optimal combination of tensile strength, elongation and yield strength.
Nikitin's team plans to create a hybrid technology for manufacturing parts from aluminum–silicon and aluminum-magnesium alloys. In
In the English-language technical literature, the combination of 3D technology with traditional machining technologies has been called hybridmanufacturing (hybrid production) or hybridtechnologies (hybrid technologies).