Effects of deposition parameters on cumulative energy demand for Cold Metal Transfer additive manufacturing processes

This paper proposes a methodology that can be used to assess the effects of variations in the process parameters on the energy consumption of a Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) additive manufacturing process. The analysis was carried out at the process level and then extended to cradle-to-gate system boundaries. A thin-walled component was considered as a demonstrative case study. The results demonstrate that any variation in deposition process parameters (namely, the wire feed speed and the travel speed) affects not only the energy requirements related to the deposition process itself, but also the material deposition efficiency and the cradle-to-gate cumulative energy demand.