Wire–powder–arc additive manufacturing: A viable strategy to fabricate carbide ceramic/aluminum alloy multi-material structures

Ceramic/metal composites have been widely studied and applied because of their many advantageous properties. However, limited work on the additive manufacturing (AM) of ceramic controllably reinforced metal matrix composites (MMCs) has been conducted. To customize the compositions and properties at user-defined positions within a single MMC component, we developed a low-cost method, wire–powder–arc additive manufacturing (WPA-AM), for the rapid fabrication of ceramic particles to selectively reinforce aluminum matrix composite (AMC) structures. Multi-material AMC components with the controllable addition of various carbide ceramic particles (B4C, SiC, TiC, and WC/W2C) have been successfully fabricated via the WPA-AM system. We investigated the effects of the four kinds of ceramic particles on the arc behaviors, the droplet transfer modes in the WPA-AM process, and the forming qualities of the deposited AMC layers. The particle distribution, microstructures, and interfacial characteristics of the AMC structures have been studied. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the single-AMC and the cyclic laminated multi-AMC structures were comparatively analyzed. This work verified the feasibility of manufacturing ceramic/metal multi-material structures by the WPA-AM process, which will promote the development and application of AM technology.