Project A07 investigates structural design, WAAM methods and component testing of complex, large-scale, individualized steel components. The objective is to connect conventionally manufactured steel components and semi-finished products with additively manufactured, complex steel components (connection nodes, 3D steel inserts for concrete).
The research programme is based on innovative design and manufacturing methodologies that take both additive manufacturing parameters and material properties into account.
The evaluation of the WAAM components follows a novel test method, which considers potentially anisotropic component behaviour, surface topographies, geometric irregularities and residual stresses in addition to the relevant material properties.
The project seeks to advance Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) for the production of complex, customized steel parts by seamlessly integrating semi-finished products such as plates or pipes and even hybrid steel-concrete elements. Through comprehensive material and component testing under static loads, the unique behavior of WAAM-fabricated steel will be quantified and translated into reliable input data for digital twin models. These virtual representations will support predictive component testing and optimization. The effort will culminate in a full-scale demonstrator—covering design, manufacturing, mechanical validation, and the generation of its digital twin dataset—to showcase the technology’s readiness for industrial application.
[1] Kloft, H.; Schmitz, L.P.; Müller, C.; Laghi, V.; Babovic, N.; Baghdadi, A. Experimental Application of Robotic Wire-and-Arc Additive Manufacturing Technique for Strengthening the I-Beam Profiles. Buildings 2023, 13, 366. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings13020366
[2] Müller, J.; Grabowski, M.; Müller, C.; Hensel, J.; Unglaub, J.; Thiele, K.; Kloft, H.; Dilger, K., 2019. Design and Parameter Identification of Wire and Arc Additively Manufactured (WAAM) Steel Bars for Use in Construction. In: Metals - Open Access Metallurgy. Nr. 9 (2019) Vol. 725. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/met9070725
[3] Unglaub, J., Müggenburg, M., Jahns, H., Kloft, H., Hensel, J. and Thiele, K., 2024, September. Towards a digital twin to enable first-time-right DED-arc components. RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication, pp.439–446. Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-70031-6_51
[4] Laghi, V., Babovic, N., Benvenuti, E. and Kloft, H., 2024. Blended structural optimization of steel joints for wire-and-arc additive manufacturing. Engineering Structures, 300, p.117141. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2023.117141
