Residual Stress Distributions in Wire Arc Additively Manufactured Tubular Parts

Abstract Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is a metal 3D printing technology that enables the production of large and intricate steel components with significant potential in structural engineering. The cyclic thermal history inherent to the WAAM process induces residual stresses, which can influence the structural performance of the fabricated components. In the present study, the residual stress distributions in three square hollow section (SHS) tubes with different nominal thicknesses and two circular hollow section (CHS) tubes with different interpass temperatures, were examined using the sectioning method. For the SHS tubes, in the longitudinal direction, tensile residual stresses were found to be mainly present in the corners and compressive stresses in the middle of the faces, while in the transverse direction, the lower and upper parts of the tubes experienced the highest tensile residual stresses. In the CHS tubes, through thickness bending residual stresses with tension on the outer surface were recorded in the longitudinal direction, while the membrane residual stresses remained effectively zero around the circumference. These results provide critical insights into the residual stress distribution in WAAM parts, contributing to the understanding of their structural performance.