TWI Technical Literature Review 24033
By Mike Nunn and G Miles
Background
Wire-fed EB additive manufacture (W-EBAM) is a high deposition rate process with good industrial potential. The process allows large high integrity, vacuum re-melted, components to be fabricated with attractive buy-to-fly ratios and processing times. This review documents the state-of-the-art of wire-fed EBAM technology based on public domain information. The report provides an overview of the process and current application areas. The properties and microstructures of W-EBAM deposits are reviewed and the process compared with other deposition techniques. The purpose of this report is to inform TWI Industrial Members of the status of this relatively new technology and to aid informed decision making when considering the prospective benefits of this high deposition rate process.