A Novel Simplified Approach to Physically Simulate Wire‐Arc Directed Energy Deposition Conditions

Scarcity of specialized titanium alloy wires impedes wire‐arc directed energy deposition adoption in industry. Additionally, wire manufacturing on an experimental level is elaborate. Herein, a novel, physical simulation approach is presented, aimed to accelerate and economize titanium alloy development by generating wire‐arc directed energy deposition conditions in the microstructure without using wire as prematerial. An adjustable plasma torch mounted on a KUKA robot (re‐)melts the bar‐shaped samples, mimicking the wire‐arc directed energy deposition process first stages, creating a microstructure near identical to a wire‐arc directed energy deposited one. Ti–6Al–4V sheet, as‐built wire‐arc directed energy deposited material, and both after plasma remelting are characterized using various microscopy techniques, electron backscatter diffraction, microhardness tests, and four‐point bending. Results demonstrate congruence between wire‐arc directed energy deposited and plasma remelted material, including process‐specific phenomena like columnar grain growth and crystallographic texture, which results in orientation dependent elastic bending moduli. This method may offer a new tool for rapid alloy development for wire‐arc directed energy deposition applications since the approach eliminates the need for costly wire production and permits the use of any small bar‐shaped casting.