Computationally Driven Reliability & Repeatability for Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing of High Strength Maraging 250 Steel

Challenge: Reliable & repeatable production of large format, high performance components that are difficult to source using conventional casting and forging methods. We will Deliver: A physics-based modeling framework that enables reliable and repeatable large-format component-level production of high strength (>200 ksi) Maraging Steel produced via Wire-Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). Proposal: Solvus Global, Mississippi State University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute will scale the modeling framework deployed in Phase I to account for various geometries and asymmetries present in production of a large format part. This modeling framework will be proven via the fabrication of a full-scale part. Vision/End State: The ability to identify to fabricate any large-format component of Maraging Steel, with minimal process optimization by leveraging the physics-based modeling framework to eliminate unwanted microstructural features and residual stress buildup. This framework will be scalable and deployable to other material systems of interest as part of a Phase 3 effort. Competitive Advantage: The team of Solvus Global, Mississippi State University (MSU), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has already demonstrated material performance of Maraging 250, and has demonstrated the ability to predict build windows from physics-based models. A proprietary framework of data transfer from experimental to thermal model to microstructural model and back provides the team with the ability to accelerate deployment of new material systems faster than any other group in the world. ĀFurthermore, Solvus Global has all of the necessary infrastructure to immediately enter into production arrangements leveraging the outcomes of this Phase II SBIR. By end of 2022 Solvus Global will have three production-level WAAM cells capable of producing parts up to 20Æ and 4000 pounds. Solvus will have the ability to machine parts up to 10Æ x 8Æ, and will have the ability to heat treat parts up to 5Æ x 5Æ.