Collaborative Robotic Wire + Arc Additive Manufacture and Sensor-Enabled In-Process Ultrasonic Non-Destructive...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science and Engineering
• Manufacturing Technology
• Robotics and Automation

Background:

• The increasing demand for cost-efficient manufacturing of complex metal components fuels research in metal Additive Manufacturing (AM).
• Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) offers automated, time-, and material-efficient production of metal parts.
• Current post-production Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) methods are often manual and inefficient, leading to costly rework or scrap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a synchronized multi-robot system for integrated WAAM and in-process NDE.
• To enable real-time defect detection during the WAAM process.
• To facilitate in-process repair and minimize wastage of defective builds.

Main Methods:

• A synchronized multi-robot cell was designed for concurrent WAAM and NDE.
• A novel high-temperature, dry-coupled phased array ultrasound transducer (PAUT) roller-probe was developed for NDE.
• Real-time robot control based on sensor feedback enabled in-process inspection using Full Matrix Capture (FMC) and adaptive Total Focusing Method (TFM) imaging.

Main Results:

• The integrated system successfully detected intentionally embedded reflectors (1.0 mm internal diameter tungsten tube) in a titanium WAAM sample.
• Ultrasound data acquired in-process demonstrated a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio.
• The developed approach shows potential for early defect identification within the WAAM process.

Conclusions:

• The synchronized robotic WAAM and NDE cell enables in-process defect detection.
• The novel dry-coupled PAUT roller-probe is effective for high-temperature WAAM surfaces.
• Early defect detection strengthens AM benefits by allowing for potential in-process repair, reducing scrap.