Being able to print parts by WAAM with the required level of integrity requires mastering the interaction of the many variables often involved in different steps of the engineer’s workflow. This is no different from any other process within AM, which truly is the epitome of multidisciplinarity with complex interactions of material science, physics, mechanical engineering, software and hardware frameworks and, indeed, human factors.
The scale at which these complex phenomena occurs in WAAM makes them even more evident. Therefore, we have had to mature the technology in the direction of
- Integration of the tools needed to go from a part’s concept to a successful print
- Automation and control of the underlaying processes,
- Improvement in print speeds to being able to tackle even more components in a timely manner. This should help WAAM becoming more and more widespread.