Manufacturing Technology 2025, 25(3):396-404 | DOI: 10.21062/mft.2025.039

Thermal Analysis of Micro Plasma Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Deposition Process

Siti Khairiyah Sulaiman ORCID...1, Mohd Rizal Alkahari ORCID...1,2, Mohd Juzaila Abd Latif ORCID...1, Yupiter Harangan Prasada Manurung ORCID...3,4, Keval Priapratama Prajadhiana ORCID...3,4
1 Faculty of Mechanical Technology and Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, 76100, Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia
2 Center for Advanced Research on Energy, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, 76100, Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia
3 College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia
4 Smart Manufacturing Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Additive manufacturing (AM) is rapidly developing with emerging technology of wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process due to its ability to manufacture large components and high deposition rate. However, WAAM faces mechanical properties problems like porosity, distortion, and strength due to the large heat affected zone (HAZ) from commonly used heat sources such as metal inert gas (MIG) and tungsten inert gas (TIG). Utilization of micro plasma as the heat source should reduce this problem since it has a smaller heat source diameter. Therefore, this study investigates the thermal distribution of micro plasma wire arc additive manufacturing (MPWAAM) by developing a finite element method (FEM) model. This paper focuses on the fabrication of single-layer multitrack deposition and tool path planning of multi-layer multitrack depositions by MPWAAM process. The melt pool size and peak temperature are mainly governed by heat input per unit travel speed of the worktable, with current and voltage being the significant factors. Besides, tool path planning strategy influences the properties and quality of the final product, where parallel tool path design with longer interlayer cooling time minimized part distortion and residual stresses.

Keywords: Additive Manufacturing, 3D Printing, Finite Element Method, Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, Multi-layer multitrack
Grants and funding:

This work is supported by Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) and the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (MOHE). This work was financially supported by an MOHE research grant, Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) – FRGS/1/2020/TK0/UTEM/02/22

Received: May 4, 2024; Revised: May 17, 2025; Accepted: May 26, 2025; Prepublished online: May 30, 2025; Published: July 4, 2025  Show citation

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Sulaiman SK, Alkahari MR, Juzaila Abd Latif M, Harangan Prasada Manurung Y, Priapratama Prajadhiana K. Thermal Analysis of Micro Plasma Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Deposition Process. Manufacturing Technology. 2025;25(3):396-404. doi: 10.21062/mft.2025.039.
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