Investigation of cladding layer formation in uphill wire laser additive manufacturing on inclined substrate

In wire laser additive manufacturing (WLAM), the position posture of substrate is highly related to the formation process of the cladding layer which will affect the forming quality and service performance of the manufacturing parts. The forming quality of the cladding layer is often difficult to be controlled under the condition of the inclined substrate. Therefore, a three-dimensional dynamic model is established in this paper to investigate the WLAM process on inclined substrate. The influence of the inclined substrate on the forming quality of the cladding layer is analyzed from the evolution of wire molten metal transfer process and oscillation behaviors of the molten metal in the molten pool. It is found that the backward gravity component plays a major role in promoting the backward oscillation process of the molten metal in the molten pool on inclined substrate. The backward oscillation process of the molten metal is the main factor for the formation of cladding layer with wave morphology. The calculated cladding layer morphology is validated by the experimental results. The proposed model is of great theoretical significance for understanding the molten pool dynamic behaviors of the WLAM process and improving the forming quality of the cladding layer on inclined substrate further.