A finite volume scheme with an adaptive heat flux calculation for fast temperature prediction for wire arc additive manufacturing

Thermal simulations are an essential tool for optimizing the wire arc additive manufacturing process. However, their adoption in the process optimization workflow is still challenged by the long computational time required for the numerical solution of the thermal models. In this article, a Finite Volume scheme is proposed for predicting the temperature field evolution during wire arc additive manufacturing. A novel adaptive calculation of the heat flux is used for the acceleration of the numerical solution of heat conduction problems with a moving heat source. Numerical tests and experimental data are utilized to assess the performance of the proposed method in comparison to an explicit Finite Element scheme and a standard explicit Finite Volume scheme. Compared to the reference schemes, the accuracy loss is demonstrated to be negligible for the application to process planning. Depending on the simulated case, more than twice the computational efficiency of the reference schemes is achieved. The results demonstrate the suitability of the method for the simulation of heat conduction problems with a moving heat source and particularly for fast temperature predictions for wire arc additive manufacturing.