Microstructure and mechanical properties of Inconel 625 fabricated by wire-arc additive manufacturing

In the present study Inconel 625 alloy fabricated using Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) has been investigated. The microstructure and mechanical properties of the fabricated Inconel625 alloy, and the influence of torch travel speed on the properties of the manufactured specimens were researched. Microstructural studies revealed variation in microstructure in different layers of the specimen, with the bottom layer consisting of fine primary cellular grains. Mechanical properties that include hardness and tensile properties showed that with the increase in the travel speed, average micro-hardness of the manufactured specimens slightly improved from 248 HV to 253 HV. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased from 647 MPa to 687 MPa, while yield strength (YS) increased from 376 MPa to 400 MPa. Results showed that the mechanical performance of the manufactured components by CMT-WAAM method was better than the mechanical properties of Inconel 625 alloy casting parts except UTS, which demonstrated that the Inconel 625 alloys can be fabricated by cold metal transfer process.