The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-023-11481-3

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Effect of interlayer dwell time on output quality in wire arc additive

manufacturing of low carbon low alloy steel components
Batuhan Turgut1,2 · Uğur Gürol2,3 · Recep Onler1

Received: 20 November 2022 / Accepted: 23 April 2023 / Published online: 1 May 2023
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag London Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

Abstract
Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has gained significant attention over the past decade due to its advantages, such
as high productivity, cost-effectiveness, and ease of application. However, predictable WAAM of components with designed
properties is still challenging due to the lack of comprehensive understanding of the process that uses considerable heat input.
The interlayer dwell time is a critical process parameter in WAAM that impacts the thermal history of the manufacturing
part, thereby controlling the output quality. This experimental study investigates the effect of interlayer dwell time on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of low carbon low alloy steel components fabricated by WAAM. Three samples
were produced by WAAM using identical process conditions by employing continuous deposition, 60 s, and 120 s dwelling
after each layer deposition, respectively. The temperature profiles on both the substrate and the interlayer, hardness, yield
strength, and microstructure variation were comparatively investigated. It was shown that the interlayer dwell time can
significantly allow controlling the temperature fields experienced in the part, in turn, both mechanical and microstructural
properties are modified. In addition, since the distance to the substrate increases with increasing built height, the thermal
history and local properties of the specimens were found to be affected. Thus, a constant interlayer dwell time does not pro-
vide identical interlayer temperatures. It was found that compared to the samples without interlayer dwell time the samples
with 120 s dwell time showed around 18% and 10% increased average hardness and average yield strength, respectively.

Keywords Additive manufacturing · Wire arc additive manufacturing · Interlayer dwelling · Hardness · Microstructure

1 Introduction processes with various materials, thereby highlighting the

industrial feasibility of WAAM [3]. Despite the aforemen-
In recent decades, wire arc additive manufacturing (WAA) tioned advantages, in-depth understanding of the WAAM
has gained and increasing attention for rapid fabrication of process is lacking, which renders predictable fabrication of
three-dimensional complex, large parts and components due high-quality parts via WAAM challenging.
to its high deposition rates, low cost, and ease of applica- The output quality of the parts created by WAAM
tion and broad materials selection [1, 2]. The WAAM pro- depends highly on their thermal history [4–6]. This heat
cess uses an electrical arc and filler wires as the heat source input is pivotal for adhesion of layers in WAAM; however,
and deposition material, respectively, to provide the desired it also poses inherent challenges, such as (1) the potential
heat input during the layer-by-layer deposition of materi- excessive heat accumulation would result in catastrophic
als. Furthermore, WAAM leverages the established welding interruption of the process due to structural failures, poor
dimensional accuracy, and unwanted alterations of mechani-
* Recep Onler cal properties and microstructure [4, 7–10]; and (2) the pos-
ronler@gtu.edu.tr sibility of uncontrolled thermal cycles experienced by the
parts due to the conductive heat transfer to the substrate
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gebze Technical in WAAM would lead to significant anisotropy, especially
University, Gebze, 41400 Kocaeli, Turkey
when creating complex parts with a large number of layers
2
Gedik Welding Inc., Research and Development Center, [5, 6, 11–13]. As such, it is crucial to understand and control
Pendik, 34906 İstanbul, Turkey
the thermal history-output quality relationships of the parts
3
Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, to fabricated by WAAM.
İstanbul Gedik University, Pendik, 34906 İstanbul, Turkey

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5278 The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288

Since WAAM process has a wide range of process param- showed that the interlayer dwell time and travel strategies
eter selections that can directly affect the thermal history- alter the microstructure of Ti6Al4V [25]. Abusalma et al.
output quality relationship, many researchers focus on iden- demonstrated that the interlayer dwell time significantly
tifying suitable process parameter selections. For example, affects the residual stress profile of the parts fabricated by
Müller et al. investigated the effect of heat input, interlayer WAAM [26]. Xiong et al. investigated the effect of interlayer
temperature, and cooling rate on the mechanical properties temperature in WAAM of 300M steel and found that the
of high-strength steel structures, and demonstrated that the microstructure and waviness of the parts are correlated with
microstructure and mechanical properties can be signifi- interlayer temperature. Singh et al. tested different interlayer
cantly altered with the WAAM conditions [14]. Huang et al. dwell times on 316 L stainless steel walls created by WAAM
investigated the tensile behavior of as-built and machined with four layers and concluded that the interlayer dwell time
specimens WAAMed with different deposition strategies affects the density, geometry, microstructure, and mechani-
using normal and high-strength steel, and reported that cal properties of the resulting parts [9]. Similar results were
the machined samples showed almost isotropic behavior, reported by Nagasai et al. on low carbon steel components
whereas as-built samples showed considerable anisotropy with four layer height [10]. Together, mounting evidence
[15]. In addition, they reported the effects of deposition suggests that interlayer dwelling could be a viable approach
strategy on microstructure can be different when the mate- to achieving the improved output quality in WAAM. By
rial composition is changed. Another study from the same controlling the thermal history, the microstructure, part
institution has reported significant anisotropy of both as- geometry, surface quality, and mechanical properties can
built and machined WAAMed sheet tensile specimens [16]. be improved.
Tonelli et al. examined the effect of active cooling on the Although the merits of interlayer dwelling have been
mechanical properties of 304L stainless steel and found no shown in the previous studies, the existing studies on inter-
significant effect of active cooling on part properties [17]. layer dwelling have limited focus in terms of investigated
On the other hand, Laghi et al. studied the effect of sur- numbers of layers, dwell times or process outputs. A fur-
face finishing, orientation, process parameters, and cooling ther understanding of the effect of interlayer temperature and
strategy on the mechanical properties of the steel specimens interlayer dwelling time on the output quality of the parts
and concluded that all the investigated conditions influence manufactured with different materials by WAAM is neces-
the mechanical properties, and cooling strategy requires a sary to facilitate predictable WAAM of high-quality parts.
specific investigation [18]. Taken together, the above studies For this reason, this study employs a comprehensive inves-
and many others have shown that the influences of WAAM tigation of the effect of interlayer dwell time on microstruc-
process parameters on output properties may vary signifi- tural and mechanical properties of very-high-aspect-ratio
cantly and requires detailed investigation. low carbon low alloy steel parts manufactured by WAAM.
One of the most important factors that changes the prop- Sixty-layer height samples were manufactured by gas metal
erties of produced parts in above studies is the experienced arc welding (GMAW)-based WAAM. Temperature profiles
local thermal history and it draws significant attention in on both substrate and interlayer were monitored. The micro-
the literature. Several methods have been implemented to structure, hardness, dimensional properties, and location
understand and/or control the thermal history of parts in dependent strength of the components produced with and
WAAM to improve output quality. These methods include without interlayer dwelling were comparatively analyzed.
but not limited to convective heat transfer ratio enhancement The presented study aims to further expand our understand-
by applying cold air [5, 9, 18], manufacturing the sample ing of the WAAM process for accurate and reproducible
immersed in a cooling liquid [19, 20], thermoelectric cool- fabrication of high-quality parts.
ing [21, 22], heat input reduction [23], or allowing the tem-
perature drops by interlayer dwelling [9, 10, 24]. The main
aim to reduce the temperature in these studies is to reduce 2 Experimental procedure
dimensional inaccuracies and built failures. However, when
an active cooling is applied, the obtained high cooling rates 2.1 Experimental setup and materials
can be detrimental to the material [4]. Temperature control
by interlayer dwelling is particularly attractive since it can To study the effect of atmospheric cooling times, an experi-
be applied with no additional expensive equipment and can mental investigation was conducted. The WAAM was per-
eliminate the issues associated with fast cooling rates. Mon- formed in a robotic cell shown in Fig. 1a to produce the
tevecchi et al. studied the interlayer dwell time scheduling samples. This robotic cell includes a 6-axis robot arm (OTC
via finite element analysis and demonstrated that the dimen- DAIHEN FD-V8L) with an end effector for welding, and a
sional accuracy could be improved by controlling heat accu- synergic gas metal arc welding (GMAW) machine (GeKa-
mulation with suitable interlayer dwelling [5]. Wang et al. Mac, Power MIG GPS WB P500L). During WAAM, the

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The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288 5279

Fig. 1  a The experimental

facility used in the study. b
The illustration of the used
build strategy along with the
substrate (Ts) and interlayer (Ti)
measurement locations. c The
specimen locations and configu-
ration extracted from the printed
samples for further characteriza-
tion and testing

Table 1  The composition of the used wire (SG2) and substrate mate- eliminate this height variation, the alternating layers were
rial (%.wt) printed in opposite directions as depicted in Fig. 1b. Each
Type C Mn Si P S sample was produced using the same tool path with 60 sub-
sequent layers. To investigate the effect of interlayer cool-
Welding Wire 0.066 1.462 0.89 0.005 0.001 ing duration, three samples were produced with 0-, 60- and
Substrate 0.197 1.407 0.197 0.014 0.003 120-s interlayer dwell times between successive layers. The
The properties of used wire are emphasized with bold letters arc was extinguished right after completing each layer and
restarted for the next layer right before the movement of the
robotic arm. All other experimental conditions were kept
synergistic welding machine was programmed with a low identical throughout the experiments. The samples were pro-
spatter control (LSC) operation to ensure short arc forma- duced with 40 cm/min travel speed, 80 A current with a 90°
tion with high stability and low spatter by monitoring and torch angle, 14 mm contact tip to work distance (CTWD),
adjusting voltage throughout the process. The robotic arm and 15 L/min shielding gas flow rate. To investigate the
was controlled with teach pendants. effect of dwell times on heat accumulations, substrate and
A commercially available low alloyed 1.2 mm AWS A5.18 top-layer temperatures were monitored using an infrared
ER 70 S-6 welding wire (GeKa SG2) was used in the experi- thermometer (FLUKE 62 Mini). Since there is no standard
ments. S355J2N plain steel with the dimensions of 350 mm method for measuring temperatures during WAAM, various
× 150 mm × 12 mm was used as the substrate, following the approaches have been implemented in the literature includ-
TS EN 10025-2 standard. To minimize the distortion of the ing measuring the substrate temperatures using thermocou-
substrate during the process, the substrate was clamped on the ples or pyrometers, measuring from a constant location from
base with a torque wrench. The chemical composition of both the side surface, measuring from the top surface, and meas-
the welding wire and the substrate material used in the experi- uring from the side surface with a constant distance to top
ments is given in Table 1. The WAAM process was conducted surface [27]. Lemes et al. compared the pyrometer measure-
under a shielding gas consisting of 82% Ar + 18% ­CO2 to ments from top surface and side surface with a constant dis-
protect the products from oxygen or nitrogen contamination. tance to top surface and concluded that measurement from
the sideward surface represents the melt pool temperature
2.2 Experimental plan better [28]. They also pointed out that the measured tem-
peratures using the above approaches should be taken as
The samples were printed with a single bead in each layer. reference temperatures rather than absolute temperatures.
Due to thermal differences, the sample height could vary As a result, the temperatures were determined to be meas-
significantly when the same travel direction is used [9]. To ured from the sideward surface. The measurement locations

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5280 The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288

and time were determined based on EN ISO 13916 which from five different locations using a caliper before sectioning
defines how the temperatures should be measured during the specimens. The surface waviness values were extracted
multi-pass welding. Figure 1b shows the temperature meas- from the cross-section images and extracted using image
urement locations. The substrate temperature was measured processing. In addition, the hardness variation throughout
20 mm away from the weld bead on the mid-section of the the built height was determined from the middle region of
plate, and the interlayer temperature was measured from the cross-sections using a Vickers indenter with 5 kgf load
the built wall’s centerline of the manufactured wall 15 mm (Struers DuraScan G5) based on ISO 6507 standard. The
below the top surface. In addition, an infrared camera (FLIR hardness measurements were taken with 0.5-mm intervals
E6-XT) was used to monitor the temperature distribution on through the built height. Macro images of the samples were
the substrate and printed samples. obtained by stitching the images obtained with a stereo
microscope (NIKON SMZ 745T). To study the strength
2.3 Applied tests variation throughout the built height, three tensile specimens
in horizontal directions were extracted from each sample
To determine the effect of interlayer dwell time, several based on ASTM E8/E8M-21 standard. The tensile tests were
dimensional, mechanical, and microstructural analyses were carried out on a tensile test device (Zwick Roell 600 kN) in
conducted. The porosity and crack formation in the samples accordance with ASTM E8/E8M-21.
were evaluated using the Digital X-Ray method according to
ISO 17636-2 (DURR HD CR35). After digital X-ray analy-
sis, specimens were extracted from the samples for further 3 Results and discussion
evaluation as depicted in Fig. 1c. The microstructure of
the samples was investigated from the cross-sections via 3.1 Temperature profiles and dimensional
optical microscopy (Leica DMi8 optical microscope) after properties
extracting cross-sectional specimens by cutting, polishing,
and etching with Nital (3%) solution following by ASTM Figure 2 shows the temperature values from the substrate
E3 standard. These cross-sections were further investigated and interlayer. The interlayer dwell time reduces substan-
using scanning electron microscopy (FEG, Quanta 450). tially the temperature ranges that previous layers experience
The width and height of the samples were measured at least (Fig. 2a). The measured interlayer temperatures reach above

Fig. 2  The measured tempera-

ture values from a the substrate
and b interlayer at different
layer levels

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The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288 5281

500°C without interlayer dwelling, whereas the maximum compare the thermal distribution and heat dissipation effects
interlayer temperature with 60 s and 120 s dwelling were of the investigated interlayer dwell times. The heat accu-
measured as 209°C and 142°C, respectively. The interlayer mulation increases with the increasing number of layers.
temperatures continue to increase with the built height up Furthermore, the interlayer dwell time decreases the tem-
to approximately the 3­ 0th layer and a more steady thermal perature on the already deposited layers and reduces the heat
condition was observed in the successive layers in specimens accumulation throughout the samples and the substrate. The
without interlayer dwelling and with 60 s dwell times. On shorter dwell times act as the preheating on the interlayer
the other hand, the sample with a 120-s interlayer dwell time and reduce both the solidification and heat dissipation rates.
showed substantial reduction on both substrate and interlayer The temperature profiles affect the dimensional accuracy
temperature. The measured substrate temperatures highlight of the produced parts. Figure 4 shows the pictures of the
the importance of interlayer dwelling (Fig. 2b). The sub- produced parts along with their cross-sectional views. The
strate temperatures without dwelling continue to increase cross-sectional views reveal that the first deposited layer on
until the ­30th layer reaching up to 250°C. The effect of sub- all the samples has the lowest width due to the fast dissipa-
strate heat dissipation on the interlayer temperature is evi- tion of the heat through the substrate and lower substrate
dent on the first layers, especially the sample with no inter- temperature. However, with the subsequent layers, the previ-
layer dwell time showed substantial reduced heat dissipation ous surfaces maintain the preheating from the earlier layer,
and increased interlayer temperatures with increasing built and thus, the larger width is obtained. Table 2 shows the
heights. Conversely, interlayer dwelling allows the accumu- overall height, width, and surface roughness variations with
lated heat to dissipate, thereby decreasing the substrate and standard deviations of the produced parts. The minimum
interlayer temperatures with increasing built heights. Con- height and the maximum width were observed in the sample
sidering the previous studies that use substrate temperature with no interlayer dwelling. with height and width values of
to follow the interlayer temperatures (e.g., [29, 30]), the 68.46 mm and 4.81 mm, respectively. The maximum height
obtained results clearly show that the substrate temperature of 73.03 mm was measured in the sample with a 120-s inter-
cannot be a good reference for the interlayer temperatures layer dwell time. The width of the samples was reduced to
even in the first layers. 4.43 mm and 4.26 mm with increasing interlayer dwell times
Figure 3 shows the thermal field images of the samples to 60 s and 120 s, respectively. This is expected since the
at the ­5th, ­30th, and ­60th layers of each sample. Although the interlayer dwelling accelerates the dissipation of heat on the
temperature limit of the used infrared camera is only 280°C, deposited surface, thereby solidifying the newly deposited
the output thermal distributions are still very informative to layer faster, with reduced spreading. Since the volumetric

Fig. 3  Thermal field images

of the samples produced with
different interlayer dwell times
during 5th, 30th, and 60th layer
deposition

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5282 The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288

Table 2  Dimensional properties of WAAMed parts with standard

deviations obtained with different interlayer dwell times

Interlayer dwell time Height (σ) (mm) Width (σ) (mm) Average
waviness
(μm)

Continuous 68.46 (±2.11) 4.81 (±0.23) 298

60s 71.52 (±0.79) 4.43 (±0.1) 219
120s 73.03 (±0.6) 4.26 (± 0.01) 203

rate is similar for each dwelling time, lower sample widths

and higher sample heights are obtained with increasing
interlayer dwell time. It should be noted that the standard
deviations both in height and width decreased with increas-
ing dwell time pointing out more uniform samples were
obtained with increasing dwell time. The measured average
waviness values were 298 μm, 219 μm, and 203 μm for the
samples with 0-s, 60-s, and 120-s interlayer dwell times,
respectively. These average waviness values suggest that the
increasing dwell time also imparts higher surface quality by
reducing the layer-by-layer surface waviness.

3.2 Micro and macro defects

Figure 5a–c shows the digital X-ray and SEM images of the
manufactured samples with different interlayer dwell times.
No defects were observed with X-ray imaging analysis of all
three samples, confirming the favorable experimental condi-
tions to achieve fusion of the successive layers. In addition,
these crack-free samples demonstrate the lack of major qual-
ity issues due to the thermal stress-related residual stresses.
Further characterization of the sample cross-sections with
optical microscopes exhibits no microscopic defects (Fig. 6).
However, the SEM images shown in Fig. 5e, f indicate that
the samples contain holes with an approximate diameter of
2 μm. A further investigation of the relationship between
dwell times and these defects is warranted as a future study.

3.3 Microstructural developments

Figure 6 shows the microstructures obtained from the bot-

tom (approximately 5 mm above the substrate), middle
(approximately mid-height), and top regions (approxi-
mately 15 mm below the top surface) of the produced sam-
ples with different interlayer dwell times. The micrographs
of the sample without interlayer dwelling revealed that the
microstructure of the bottom region composed of the typi-
cal polygonal as the primary phase and a low-volume frac-
tion of acicular ferrite and grain boundary ferrite due to
Fig. 4  The wire arc additive manufactured components with differ- the faster cooling that was mainly caused by the substrate
ent interlayer dwell times along with their cross-section views. a No plate (Fig. 1a). The solid wire used in WAAM is hypo-
interlayer dwell time, b 60s interlayer dwell time, c 120s interlayer
dwell time (the scale bar on the cross-section images corresponds to eutectoid steel with a low carbon content of C ≤ 0.07%
4 mm length) and containing increased silicon and manganese content.

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The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288 5283

Fig. 5  Defect characterization

of the samples: a, b, c Digital
X-ray photos of the samples
with 0 s, 60 s, and 120 s dwell
time, respectively. d, e, f
Scanning electron microscopy
images of the sample cross-
sections of specimens produced
with 0 s, 60 s and 120 s dwell
time, respectively. Scale bars on
SEM images are 50 μm

Figure 6:  Microstructure of
the samples manufactured with
interlayer dwell times. a) 0 s
b) 60 s c)120 s interlayer dwell
times

Thus, there is a small amount of pearlite phases, which heat accumulation increases in the middle and top regions
have primarily formed along the ferrite grain boundaries. with the increased building layers [31].
However, the microstructure of the middle and top regions Since the fusion boundaries experience a higher cooling
significantly differs from the microstructure of the bot- rate during the solidification process compared with continu-
tom region. Figure 6a shows that the acicular ferrite phase ous deposition, both parts in all regions (bottom, middle,
in the middle and top regions decreased, and the general and top) consisted of polygonal ferrite structure with a small
microstructure became a more equiaxed ferrite structure amount of acicular ferrite structure in the samples produced
with a small amount of pearlite at the grain boundaries with 60-s and 120-s dwell times. Further analysis of grain
due to the increased interlayer temperature resulting from sizes was obtained using ImageJ. When the dwell time was
continuous deposition characteristics of WAAM, com- increased from 60 to 120 s, the average grain sizes decreased
pared to bottom regions. Gurol et al. also reported that from 16.31 μm to 11.74 μm in the investigated regions.

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5284 The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288

During WAAM, the heat-affected zone can reach several lay- 4.78, and 6.51 HV standard deviation for the samples pro-
ers depending on the existing heat accumulation. Depending duced with 0 s, 60 s, and 120 s dwelling, respectively. The
on the existing temperatures, in the reheated layers migration reason for the increase in hardness with increasing dwell
of grain boundaries and grain growth can occur [12]. Since times can be attributed to the faster solidification and cool-
the previously built layers with no dwell time and 60-s dwell ing rates. In all the samples, there was a gradual increase in
times hold higher temperatures, the tendency to have recrys- hardness at the top layers. Indeed, in each newly deposited
tallized equiaxial microstructure is higher on these samples layer, the previous layers experience cyclic heat waves that
compared to the sample produced with a 120-s dwell time. decreases hardness. On the other hand, the top layers experi-
Thus, change in dwell time from 60 to 120 s resulted ence a lower number of thermal cycles, and thus, the higher
in an increased amount of acicular ferrite structure and the hardness values were retained.
decreased grain size due to lower interlayer temperatures. Tensile tests were carried out to determine the effect on
Moreover, the bottom regions exhibited smaller grains the mechanical values of the parts produced with differ-
compared to others due to the substrate cooling effect as ent dwell times. As depicted in Fig. 1c, the tensile samples
described for continuous deposition as well. were extracted from the deposited walls from three different
height regions to understand the possible effect of the built
3.4 Hardness and strength height. Figure 8 shows the yield strength and elongation
values of the tensile specimens. The yield strength of the
The Vickers hardness graph of the samples manufactured samples increased with increasing interlayer dwell times
with different dwell times is shown in Fig. 7. To include predominantly due to faster cooling rates. Except for the
the changes in the transition zone, the measurements were sample produced with continuous deposition without inter-
started from the center of the substrate. The highest hardness layer dwelling, the highest yield strength values were meas-
values were found in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) regions ured on the specimens extracted from the bottom region.
of the substrate in all three different dwell times. The hard- On the sample without interlayer dwelling, the increment
ness values were found to be gradually decreasing with in the yield strength, was balanced with the reduction of
increased distance from the substrate up to about a 15-mm the strength due to the longer duration of experienced high-
built height. The high hardness in the bottom regions could temperature ranges because of fast heat transfer to the sub-
be a result of the fast cooling of these regions due to the fast strate. Thus, no significant variation in yield strength was
dissipation of the heat through the thick substrate. The hard- observed. The deviations of the yield points due to specimen
ness value increases with the increase in the interlayer dwell location were calculated as 3.25%, 10.6%, and 4.4% respec-
time. The average hardness values from approximately 10 tively. The high variation of the sample with a 60-s dwell
mm above from the substrate to up to a 60-mm built height time was interpreted because of the interlayer temperature
were measured as 143.4, 158.2, and 168.9 HV with 4.38, ranges. As seen in Fig. 2, with 60 s of interlayer dwelling,

Fig. 7  Vickers hardness variation of samples produced with investigated interlayer dwell times

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The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288 5285

Fig. 8  The tensile test results

for specimens horizontally
extracted from the bottom,
middle, and top regions of the
WAAMed samples with dif-
ferent interlayer dwell times. a
Yield strength and b elongation

the mid-twenty-fifth layer, the interlayer temperatures were it is seen in the ANOVA results shown in Table 3, the
measured higher than 200°C. With increasing the number of effect of interlayer dwell time was found to be statistically
layers, the heat accumulation increased, and consecutively significant with a P-value of 0.045, and the rest of the
the yield strength was reduced. one-way and two-way interactions parameters were found
Further investigation of the obtained yield strengths to be statistically insignificant (P-value > 0.1). The further
was executed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). As elaborate, mean effects plots for the yield strength were

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5286 The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288

Table 3  Analysis of variance for the yield strength (DF: Degree 4 Conclusions
of Freedom; Adj SS: Adjusted sums of squares; Adj MS : Adjusted
mean squares)
In this study, we conducted an experimental investiga-
Source DF Adj SS Adj MS F-value P-value tion of WAAM to gain an in-depth understanding of the
Model 5 3030,89 606,18 2.77 0.215 effect of interlayer dwell time on the process output quality.
Linear 2 2679,13 1339,57 6.12 0.087 Three samples containing sixty layers were manufactured
Location (L) 1 250,65 250,65 1.15 0.363 by WAAM using three different interlayer dwell conditions.
Dwell time (D) 1 2428.48 2428.48 11.10 0.045 The temperature of the substrate and the interlayer were
Square 2 190.09 95.04 0,43 0.683 measured. The microstructure, hardness, and strength prop-
L*L 1 18.28 18.28 0.08 0.791 erties of the produced samples were evaluated. Based on the
D*D 1 171.80 171.80 0.79 0.441 obtained results, for the studied process parameter combina-
Error 3 656.42 218.81 tions the following conclusions are drawn:
Total 8 3687.31
(i) The mechanical properties and microstructure of the
samples are altered with the duration of interlayer
dwelling under the investigated conditions.
depicted in Fig. 9, and the increase in the yield strength
(ii) The increase in dwell time tends to improve the hard-
with increasing dwell time was clearly observed.
ness and yield strength of the low alloyed steels due
The elongation of the samples did not show a clear
to the faster the cooling rates.
trend; however, all the samples showed a higher elonga-
(iii) Near the thick substrate, the generated heat dissipates
tion than the manufacturer-specified value (manufacturer’s
faster, and the ensuing fast cooling yields elongated
specification: min 22%). The variation of the elongation
microstructures with high hardness values and yield
due to specimen location was calculated as 2.58%, 28.82%,
points. The temperature distributions of the samples
and 4.79% for the specimens with 0-s, 60-s, and 120-s
show that the effect of interlayer dwell time is not
interlayer dwell times, respectively. ANOVA for the elon-
identical throughout the built height, suggesting that
gation also confirmed that all the one-way and two-way
instead of a constant dwell time, it would be better to
interactions were statistically insignificant.
adjust the interlayer dwell time throughout the pro-
The manufacturer-specified yield point of the used ER
cess according to the temperature of the depositions
70 S-6 welding wire is min. 420 MPa. Although all the
of the new layer.
investigated specimens demonstrated lower stresses than
(iv) Since the heat conduction towards the cold regions
the specified value, the obtained strength of the samples
on the sample and substrate is crucial, the sample
exhibits that the used WAAM parameters were suitable to
geometry must be considered when determining a
manufacture mechanically robust parts.
favorable interlayer dwelling condition.

Fig. 9  Main effects plot for

yield strength

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The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (2023) 126:5277–5288 5287

Acknowledgements The authors thank Mrs. Hülya Kümek and the low-carbon low-alloy steel produced by wire arc additive manu-
staff members of the Welding Technology Research and Development facturing. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 105:2121–2134. https://​doi.​
Center of the İstanbul Gedik Üniversitesi for their technical support org/​10.​1007/​s00170-​019-​04393-8
during the preparation and characterization of the WAAM samples, 13. Rafieazad M, Nemani AV, Ghaffari M, Nasiri A (2021) On
and Assoc. Prof. M. F. Serincan of Gebze Technical University for his microstructure and mechanical properties of a low-carbon low-
assistance in thermal camera measurements, Dr. Emrullah Korkmaz alloy steel block fabricated by wire arc additive manufacturing.
for valuable discussions. J Mater Eng Perform 30:4937–4945. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1007/​
s11665-​021-​05568-9
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manufacturing of titanium and nickel alloys. J Mater Process Tech jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
215:123–131. https://​doi.​org/​10.​1016/j.​jmatp​rotec.​2014.​07.​030 Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds
30. Hackenhaar W, Mazzaferro JAE, Montevecchi F, Campatelli G exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the
(2020) An experimental-numerical study of active cooling in wire author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted
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