TWI Technical Literature Review 23069
By P Brown
Background
The purpose of this literature review is to investigate the state of the art (SoA) in relation to combining individual areas of additive manufacturing and arc welding technology, namely: laser metal deposition (LMD), hybrid laser-arc welding, and arc welding. These three individual technologies are areas in which TWI has significant experience and expertise, the information linked to combining these techniques, learned from this review, will feed into TWIs future development work.
In the manufacturing world, the term 'hybrid' generally refers to the combining of more than one individual process and/or technology in order achieves a particular advantage over the reliance on a singular process/technology. A common example is a hybrid car, these are designed to be more environmentally friendly than a conventional car (singularly powdered by an internal combustion engine), the hybrid can be propelled by either a petrol engine or an electric motor, or indeed with them both at the same time. This literature review will consider both of these 'hybrid' types ie, the 'in-series' use of more than one process and the 'parallel' use of more than one process.