Strengthening of wire arc additive manufactured aluminium alloy through interlayer rotary friction processing

To eliminate porosity and refine the grains in aluminium alloys fabricated via wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), a novel strengthening method – robotic rotary friction processing (RFP) – was introduced. The feasibility of RFP was assessed by processing the deposited beads under various average peak loads. During RFP, a rotating tool pressed the deposited beads to induce sufficient plastic deformation. After 3.5 kN-RFP, the WAAM densification ratio was improved to >99.5%, and pores were completely closed and eliminated owing to compression deformation and sub-grains bonding. The processed deposits exhibited effective grain refinement and high-density dislocation entanglement, which led to 22.8% and 34.2% improvements in the horizontal and vertical tensile strengths, respectively. Furthermore, the strengthening mechanism of RFP on deposited metals was clarified.