Development of a repair strategy for a thin aerospace component with dot-by-dot deposition approach

This study presents a repair strategy for an aerospace component manufactured from a 2000-series aluminium alloy. Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) with a dot-by-dot deposition approach was applied to mitigate the heat input and minimise distortion, enabling the reconstruction of thin-walled features with satisfactory surface finish and accuracy. The four-step process comprises the removal of damaged material, the reference geometry definition, the new material deposition, and the finish machining. First, the research focused on determining the most effective surface preparation methods and on optimising deposition parameters and strategies to minimise the occurrence of porosity, excessive melting, and humping during the repair of thin ribs, which have been identified as geometrically-critical features. Second, a preliminary environmental assessment was conducted to evaluate the carbon footprint associated with the proposed repair solution.