Numerical analysis of the cladding layer forming characteristics under the different wire feed speed conditions in additive manufacturing with inclined substrate

Additive manufacturing with inclined substrate often exists in the practical applications. Most of the studies about laser wire additive manufacturing (LWAM) are mainly focused on the condition with horizontal substrate. A dynamic model for the LWAM with inclined substrate is developed to analyze the cladding layer (CL) forming process under the different wire feed speed conditions. The effect of wire feed speed on the CL forming characteristics in the LWAM with inclined substrate is discussed. It is found that the molten pool (MP) length and the maximum height of CL are increased, and the transfer period is decreased with the increase in wire feed speed. When the wire feed speed is 35 mm/s, some shallow valleys formed in the middle part of CL cause the increase in the fluctuation range of CL height compared with that under 40 mm/s wire feed speed condition. The CL height keeps in the relatively stable status without the obvious fluctuation under 40 mm/s wire feed speed condition. As the wire feed speed is increased to 45 mm/s, the CL morphology indicates the characteristic with the obvious peak and valley, and the forming quality of CL is deteriorated seriously. The obtained results are beneficial for promoting the LWAM application with inclined substrate.