Journal of Materials Processing Tech.

307 (2022) 117655

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Journal of Materials Processing Tech.

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of wire arc

additive manufactured 308 L stainless steel cylindrical components made
by gas metal arc and cold metal transfer arc welding processes
B. Prasanna Nagasai *, 1, S. Malarvizhi , V. Balasubramanian
Centre for Materials Joining and Research (CEMAJOR), Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar 608002, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Associate Editor: Jingjing Li Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is suitable for manufacturing large-scale complex parts due to many
advantages, including high disposition rate and low cost and thus become a viable advanced manufacturing
Keywords: technique. In the present study, two different arc welding processes were used to fabricate 308 L austenitic
Wire arc additive manufacturing stainless steel (SS) cylindrical components. The mechanism and impact of the processes on the microstructure
308 L stainless steel
and mechanical characteristics were analysed. The results indicated that the component produced by the cold
Microstructural characteristics and mechanical
metal transfer (CMT) arc welding process exhibits finer grains and higher amount of ferrite than conventional gas
properties
metal arc welding (GMAW) process. Furthermore, the percentage of anisotropy in tensile strength was reduced
from 8.07% to 6.21% for cylinders built by the GMAW process to the CMT process. In addition, the average
ultimate tensile strength (UTS), elongation (EL) and hardness of the CMT cylinder are 5.17–7.0%, 4.029–7.80%
and 4.02–5.88% higher than the GMAW cylinder, irrespective of orientations. The tensile properties are higher
than those of the 308 L welding wire and other arc-welding based additively manufactured 308 L stainless steel
parts. The produced WAAM 308 L SS cylinders exhibited superior performance than the stainless steel made by
industrial forging standards. Therefore, the 308 L SS cylindrical components made by WAAM technique are
found to be suitable for industrial application.

1. Introduction materials that may be used to create structural parts in WAAM at the
moment by Zinoviev et al. (2016). Ouyang et al. (2002) studied the ef­
In the late 1980s, Charles W. Hull introduced additive manufacturing fects of welding process parameters on the shape of 5356 aluminium
(AM) technology, also known as 3D printing or rapid prototyping (RP), alloy beads, as well as the microstructural characteristics of walls
for the fabrication of prototypes, as reported by Horii et al. (2009). AM is manufactured by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Wang et al. (2018)
the process of manufacturing components from a three-dimensional used the WAAM approach to manufacture Ti-6Al-4 V components and
CAD model, typically one layer on top of another, and then rapidly so­ evaluated the impact of deposition parameters on grain growth and
lidifying them together. In comparison to traditional manufacturing tensile properties in the transverse direction. However, in order to sus­
methods, AM technology can produce complicated parts at a high tain the high deposition rate in WAAM, a substantial amount of heat is
forming rate without the need for costly equipment or pre-production necessarily injected. According to Zhao et al. (2011), repetitive heating
expenditures, as reported by Wang et al. (2016). of deposited layers with considerable arc heat input would result in
Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), which employs electric significant heat accumulation and slow cooling rate during the WAAM
arc as a heat source to melt wire feed material to build parts, has process. As documented by Xiong et al. (2018) high temperatures be­
received much interest because of its potential to produce complex parts tween inter layers generated by severe heat buildup, particularly for
with low cost and high deposition rate. Carbon steel, aluminium alloys, manufacturing thin metal parts, may result in a slow cooling rate and
nickel-based super alloys and titanium alloys are among the metal even forming failure due to overflow of weld pool. These difficulties will

* Correspondence to: Centre for Materials Joining and Research (CEMAJOR), Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar
608002,Tamilnadu, India.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (B.P. Nagasai), [email protected] (S. Malarvizhi), [email protected] (V. Balasubramanian).
1
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8560-1643.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2022.117655
Received 13 March 2022; Received in revised form 26 May 2022; Accepted 29 May 2022
Available online 1 June 2022
0924-0136/© 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Table 1
Chemical composition of 308 L SS filler wire.
Element C P S Cr Ni Mo Cu Mn Si Fe

308 L SS 0.03 0.03 0.03 19.5–21 9–11 0.5 0.75 1–2.5 0.3–0.7 Bal

have a negative impact on the fabricated component forming quality, system complexity and experimental cost. Su et al. (2019) studied the
especially microstructure and mechanical characteristics. effect of heat input on the microstructure and mechanical properties of
ER308L is an austenite stainless steel with a low carbon content, CMT-WAAM Al-Mg alloy parts. The authors observed fine microstruc­
good material properties, and excellent corrosion resistance behaviour. tural characteristics with higher tensile strength than cast Al-Mg alloy at
Its uses can be found in a variety of industries, including oil, gas, mining, low heat input by changing WFS and TS. In recent studies reported by
manufacturing, automotive production, and steamship construction. Shen et al. (2020) and Osintsev et al. (2022), a combined cable wire arc
The laser metal wire deposition technology was utilised by Abioye et al. additive manufacturing (CCW-AAM) process was used. Shen Q. et al.
(2017) to manufacture the 308LSi straight wall part. The studies (2020) used this process to produce the Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni high entropy
revealed that columnar dendrites develop vertically along the building alloy (HEA), which contains FCC and ordered BCC phases and exhibits
direction in the microstructures of parts. The material properties and greater ultimate compressive stress and elongation than the cast alloy.
microstructural aspects of 308 L steel walls fabricated by WAAM were Similarly, Wang et al. (2021) used a cable type welding wire (AL-Mg) to
investigated by Le et al. (2020). The microstructures of the component fabricate the component using the CMT-WAAM technique. The authors
are made up of austenite dendrites (γ) and residual ferrite (δ) phases that reported that the average ultimate tensile strength of the parts made by
exist inside the austenite matrix. In addition, large columnar grains of the WAAM with CWW increased by 19.8% due to less segregation of
austenitic dendrites grow in the vertical direction. secondary phases in microstructural characteristics.
To solve this issue, it is essential and necessary to use efficient steps Qi et al. (2018) manufactured Al-Cu-Mg components with different
to control the heat buildup of deposited parts for microstructure and chemical composition filler wire by double wire arc additive
mechanical property control. Many studies are now being conducted in manufacturing. The results revealed that adding the optimum quantity
order to provide some useful solutions to this issue. Montevecchi et al. of magnesium considerably improved the strength qualities. Feng et al.
(2018) introduced a method for reducing heat buildup by increasing (2018) used the double wire arc additive manufacturing (DW-AM)
time between consecutive layers in order to cool the deposited layers. method to produce SS components by introducing two identical feed
However, the major disadvantage of this technology is that it reduces wires into the heat source, demonstrating that the DW-AM specimens
production efficiency. Water-cooled fixtures were used by Karunakaran had a greater deposition rate and better tensile properties than the single
et al. (2010) for more heat sink impact of the base metal. However, this wire arc additive manufacturing (SW-AM) specimens. However, both
technique can only successfully cool initial layers near the substrate, and wires supplied into the heat source can reduce heat accumulation on
the heat flow effects the deposited beads further from the base metal are deposited layers. Using two filler wires results in a larger weld pool size,
not noticeable. Another strategy is to provide cooling gas setup to pre­ and the cooling rate of weld pool decreased. Furthermore, the
vent heat buildup in the WAAM layers. By using CO2 gas to induce morphology of the part become noticeably coarser, and the tensile
interpass cooling on Ti-6Al-4 V parts manufactured in WAAM, Wu et al. strength and hardness were decreased with larger weld pool size, as
(2018) were able to create an attractive smoothness of the beads with reported by Wu et al. (2017). Fu et al. (2017) developed a hybrid
reduced apparent surface oxidation, a refined microstructural charac­ deposition approach for reducing anisotropy and improving grain
teristics, and better hardness and tensile properties. While this technique structure to manufacture carbon steel parts by WAAM. As reported by
efficiently solves the problem of heat buildup, it greatly increases the Xu et al. (2013), different deposition processes were used to

Fig. 1. Welding based additive manufacturing setup.

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Table 2 processes for microstructural and mechanical properties of WAAM 308 L

Welding Parameters for GMAW and CMT processes. cylindrical parts. Based on this, the present research focuses on WAAM
Parameters Units GMAW CMT 308 L stainless steel cylindrical parts produced using GMAW and CMT
processes. A complete and comparative mechanical properties and
Wire feed speed (mm/min) 5000 5000
Current (A) 158 132 microstructural characterization was done out to emphasise the
Voltage (v) 15.5 14.6 importance of heat input in the fabrication of WAAM 308 L cylindrical
Rotational speed (mm/min) 280 280 parts. In addition, to account for any possible anisotropy caused by the
Arc length correction (%) – 0 processes, all studies were carried out in three primary directions, which
99.99% Ar (lit/min) 15 15
Heat Input (kJ/mm) 0.391 0.308
were characterised by the deposition layers as longitudinal (L), trans­
verse (T), and diagonal (D).

manufacture nickel based super alloy IN625 parts by pulsed plasma arcs. 2. Experimental procedures
When compared to continuous deposition, interpass cooling depositions
had better bead geometry and tensile properties, as well as more refined 2.1. Materials and fabrication of cylinders
microstructural characteristics.
This work proposes a novel method of cold metal transfer(CMT) arc The cylindrical walls were deposited with ER308L stainless steel (SS)
welding in which the wire retraction mechanism decreases the heat welding wire with a 1.2 mm diameter. The chemical composition of
input and molten metal transfers in a short-circuit mode to reduce the welding wire presented in the Table 1. The substrate (304 stainless steel)
molten pool size and cooling rate. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, was used with dimensions of 250 × 250 × 6 mm. 308 L SS cylinders were
it is understood that there is no study on the comparison of welding deposited by GMAW and CMT processes, consisting of an advanced CMT

Fig. 2. Photographs of GMAW-WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical component.

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 3. Photographs of CMT-WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical component.

parameters produced stable bead geometry with the desired form, which
Table 3
was then used to manufacture cylinders on a substrate. Table 2 shows
Dimensions of manufactured WAAM 308 L SS Cylinders.
the optimised welding parameters. The manufactured 308 L SS cylin­
Geometry Unit GMAW CMT drical wall parts are shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Table 3 presents the di­
Average width of wall (mm) 9±1 8±1 mensions of the produced 308 L SS cylindrical parts that were built with
Average single layer height (mm) 1.9 ± 1 2.2 ± 1 a total of 11 layers (GMAW process) and 10 layers (CMT process).
Diameter of the cylinder (mm) 106 ± 1 104 ± 1
Total cylindrical component height (mm) 20.9 ± 1 22 ± 1
Total number of weld deposited layers 11 10
2.2. Mechanical properties characterization

4000 R welding machine, a CMT torch fixed on a three-axis automatic The mechanical properties of both the GMAW and CMT cylindrical
moving system, and a controlled rotating table platform (for circular parts were evaluated using uniaxial tensile tests and hardness mea­
motion), as presented in Fig. 1. The Advanced CMT 4000 R welding surements. Tensile specimens were extracted in three orientations from
machine has the capability to perform both GMAW and CMT variants. the produced WAAM cylinders, as shown Fig. 4. A total of eighteen
The remote control unit (RCU) device was used to control the movement specimens were cut in three orientations from the GMAW and CMT
of the CMT torch. The CMT torch was positioned at 90 degrees to the cylindrical components. A Tinius Olsen universal testing machine
horizontal plane of the 304 SS substrate. Many trials were performed on (H50KL) was used to record the tensile properties of the L, T, and D
the 304 SS substrate before producing the WAAM cylindrical parts, directions of specimens in the GMAW and CMT cylindrical components.
changing the welding current and travel speed to identify the optimal Miniaturized tensile samples are becoming more popular for charac­
process parameters and reduce the material waste. The optimal terization of AM materials, particularly for metal-based AM processes.
Continuous verification of the manufactured materials is required when

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 4. Specimen extraction details of WAAM 308 L SS cylinder.

Fig. 5. Dimensions of tensile specimen.

using AM in production. The characterization activity is costly in terms 2.3. Microstructural analysis
of both time and resources used; in addition to the testing activities, the
volume of components and cost of the specimens produced must be The samples were cut at the cross sections of the WAAM cylinders
considered. Miniaturized specimens allow for significant reductions in along the building direction for metallography analysis. The sticky dust
printing time and raw material requirements, as reported by Lorenzo on the surface of micro-structural samples was cleaned with acetone
et al. (2019). The cylinders were fabricated with a minimum height and before moulding. The surface was then polished using 800#, 1000#,
wall thickness. The designed tensile specimens are reduced in cross 1500#, 2000#, 2500#, and 3000# Sic papers until there were no visible
section with a flat shape. The ASTM E8/8 M standard was used to pre­ scratches. After that, the samples were polished with a 2 µm diamond
pare the miniature tensile specimens (shown in Fig. 5), adopted from polishing agent to form the mirror surface, and then etched by using a
Kumar et al. (2014). The specimens are sliced with 1 mm thickness solution (30 mL water, 20 mL HCl, and 10 mL HNO3) for 10 s. An optical
without any curved surfaces. The testing was performed at a rate of microscope (MEJI, MIL-7100) and scanning electron microscopy (JEOL-
0.01 mm/s and the yield strength was derived from the recorded JSM-5610LV INCA EDS) were used to analyse the microstructural fea­
stress-strain curve. The testing was done on three specimens in each tures in the different zones (lower, middle, and upper) of the WAAM
orientation of the GMAW and CMT cylinders, and their average results cylindrical components. Chemical analysis was done using an optical
are presented in the table. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was emission spectrometer (GDA 650) to confirm the chemical elements of
utilized to examine the fracture morphology of WAAM tensile samples. the manufactured GMAW and CMT cylindrical parts. Internal phases
The pictures of the uniaxial tensile specimens (before and after were identified using an XRD (Miniflex 600) at 40 kV and 10 mA at the
testing) are shown in Fig. 6. According to the ASTM E384 Standard, the diffraction angle range of 10–90◦ at 0.02◦ /s.
hardness was measured from the first to last layer of the additively
produced GMAW and CMT 308 L SS cylindrical components by a Vickers 3. Results
microhardness tester (SHIMADZU HMV-2 T). The hardness measure­
ment was done with a 0.5 kg load and a 10 s dwell time. The micro­ 3.1. Microstructural analysis
hardness of each zone (bottom, middle and top) was measured at nine
different points and then repeated four times to calculate the average The morphology of the cross-section (building direction) of the
value of hardness. WAAM 308 L stainless steel cylinders produced by the GMAW and CMT
techniques is shown in Fig. 7. The deposited layers are free from major
defects such as large pores and faults.

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 6. Photographs of tensile specimens of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders (before and after testing).

The microstructure was taken from the cross sections (Fig. 7) of the faster in the vertical direction of the GMAW cylinder than the CMT
WAAM 308 L SS cylinders from the lower to upper zones. The micro­ cylinder. In two cylinders, the grains are smaller in the lower zone than
structure of both (GMAW and CMT) WAAM 308 L SS cylinders was in the middle and upper zones. This is because of thermal conduction to
characterised by the austenite dendrites (γ) and residual ferrite (δ) that the cool substrate, which has the fastest cooling rate near the substrate.
occur within the austenite phase (Figs. 8–10). Fig. 9 shows typical OM and SEM images taken in the middle zone of
The microstructure of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders varied (size and the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders using GMAW and CMT welding processes.
morphology) from the lower to upper zones due to different cooling The deposited microstructures are shown in Fig. 9a and e, and are
rates and thermal gradients. Fig. 8 shows the microstructural charac­ mainly composed of columnar dendrites, which grow along the building
teristics of the lower zone of the 308 L SS cylinders deposited by GMAW direction. Moreover, the previously deposited layer (L-1) is partly
and CMT processes. The microstructure (OM and SEM photographs) of remelted by the temperature that forms the newly deposited layer (L).
the lower zone of the GMAW cylinder is shown in Fig. 8a-d. Fig. 8e-h Thus, the heat impacted zone (HIZ) between layers (L-1) and L, the area
shows the OM and SEM photographs of lower zone of the CMT cylinder. 2, can be seen (Fig. 9a and e). The HIZ is composed of equiaxed grains
In the lower zone, the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders are characterised by (Fig. 9c and g) that are coarser than those found in area 1 of a newly
columnar structures that grow in different directions (Fig. 8a and e), and formed layer (Fig. 9b and f). Therefore, a specific layer in this zone of
the fine ferrite phase is formed in both skeletal and lathy morphologies both the WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical components is characterised by a
(shown in Figs. 8b-c and 8e-f). The observed ferrite morphologies were fine columnar morphology growing parallel to the building direction
finer in the CMT cylinder than in the GMAW cylinder. Fig. 8d and h show and subsequently changing to a coarse columnar morphology, as re­
the SEM photographs of the lower zone of the GMAW and CMT cylin­ ported by Le et al. (2021). Li et al. (2021) also reported similar results in
ders. µm. cold metal transfer based additively manufactured 308 L stainless steel
The ferrite phases include skeletal and lathy morphologies are found components. The authors observed that the microstructure of the addi­
in the lower zone, which are growing fast in vertical direction in the tively deposited component varied from a fine columnar morphology to
GMAW component than the CMT component. The SEM photographs a coarse columnar morphology in the vertical direction due to the
also confirmed the ferrite morphologies in the grain boundaries of temperature of the newly deposited layers. Wu et al., 2019a manufac­
austenite in the lower zone of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders, which grow tured thin-walled stainless steel parts by the speed-cold-welding

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 7. Cross-sectional view of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders.

additive manufacturing process. The authors found that there was a austenite can be carried out continuously. Furthermore, the grains in the
greater amount of fine grain ferrite phases in the bottom zone of the part upper zone are coarser than those in the middle and lower zones. The
than in the middle and upper zones due to heat transfer differences upper zone was affected by a high thermal gradient as a result of the
between the zones. The δ phases were formed in vermicular and skeletal increased deposited layers, resulting in coarse grains in the upper zone
morphologies in the middle zone of the WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical compared to the other zones.
components. Fig. 9d and h show SEM photographs of the middle zone for The volume fraction of the γ (austenite) and δ (ferrite) phases was
GMAW and CMT cylinders. The GMAW cylinder consists of columnar measured on the basis of panoramic images of the prepared metallog­
grains that grow epitaxially from the substrate in the transverse orien­ raphy samples of the 308 L SS cylinders, which were taken at a magni­
tation. This is mainly due to greater heat transfer in the building di­ fication of 100 µm under an optical microscope. The volume fraction of
rection than in other directions in the weld pool, resulting in epitaxial the γ and δ phases was measured using the ImageJ programme on
growth in the middle zone. On the other hand, the microstructure of the microstructural images, reported by Prasanna Nagasai et al., 2022c. For
CMT cylinder is characterised by columnar grains and oriented fine the calculation of the volume fraction of phases, the scale was initially
cellular grains, as shown in Fig. 8h. This is mainly due to heat transfer of set according to the magnification of the microscope. Then, an upper
the weld pool solidification is nearly vertical to the previously deposited brightness threshold was set with respect to the colour thresholds using
layers, resulting in columnar grains of oriented growth, as described by the brightness slider so that the colour values were filtered according to
Zhao et al. (2011). Furthermore, the grains in the middle zone are the brightness of the colour values of the phases and displayed in the
coarser than those in the lower zone. This is due to differences in so­ selected colours of white and black. The analysis tool was used to
lidification rate and thermal gradient in the middle and lower zones. measure the area of the selected contour. Then, the percentage of phases
Due to the increased number of layers, the temperature also increased. in the total area was determined. The same procedure was repeated
As a result, the middle zone cools slowly and takes more time to solidify. three times on each image to ensure accurate data. An average of three
Fig. 10 shows typical OM and SEM images taken in the upper zone of images was taken in the GMAW and CMT cylinders. Table 4 presents the
the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders using GMAW and CMT welding tech­ percentages of the γ and δ phases of the WAAM 308 L SS components.
niques. The upper zone of the cylinders consists of γ and δ phases, which Fig. 11 shows the micrograph pictures of GMAW and CMT components
have skeletal and lathy morphologies in the boundaries of austenite. As produced by the image analysis programme ImageJ. The images clearly
shown in SEM photographs (Fig. 10d and h), the grains of the cylinders show that the volume fraction of δ phase is significantly lower in the
deposited under both welding processes exhibit randomly distributed GMAW component (shown in Fig. 11 c) when compared to the CMT
morphologies. The photograph (Fig. 10h) shows the widmanstatten component (shown in Fig. 11 d). The differences in the volume fraction
austenite (w-γ) and reticular or net like delta ferrite morphologies along of phases in the WAAM 308 L SS components are mainly due to the
the building direction. However, for the morphology of the cylinder different heat inputs of the welding processes (presented in Table 4).
deposited using the GMAW-WAAM process, a part of ferrite dissolves in Similarly, Zhang et al. (2021a) also used ImageJ software to calculate
austenite and the residual ferrite exhibits vermicular morphology within the ferrite and austenite content in the WAAM 308 L stainless steel
the austenitic matrix (shown in Fig. 10d). According to Yilmaz and Ugla components. The authors observed variation in the ferrite and austenite
(2016) studies, the solidification process in the GMAW-WAAM takes a content by changing the wire feed speed from 0.2 m/min to 0.8 m/min
long time to reach room temperature (RT), and the transition of ferrite to due to different cooling rates.

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 8. Macrostructure of lower zone of WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical components, a-d) GMAW-WAAM process and e-f) CMT-WAAM process.

3.2. XRD analysis than the GMAW-WAAM cylinder. During the solidification of SS, the
transition of ferrite to austenite is limited at slow solidification rate by
The XRD analysis was done on the centre portion of the WAAM 308 L Skiba et al. (2009). Therefore, a large percentage of ferrite in the
SS cylindrical components. Fig. 12 shows the XRD patterns of WAAM CMT-WAAM component is retained and turns into residual ferrite at
308 L SS cylindrical components fabricated by GMAW and CMT pro­ room temperature. Li et al. (2020) also reported similar results in
cesses. It is indicated that γ is detected at (111), (200) and (220) peaks in laminar plasma-based additively manufactured 308 L stainless steel
the two cylinders and δ is detected at (111), (200) and (211) peaks in the parts. The authors observed austenite and ferrite phases, and the in­
two cylinders, which means the manufactured components are tensity of γ-(111) and γ-(200) peaks had the opposite effect from the
composed of austenite and ferrite phases. There is a reduction in the lower to upper zone. Prasanna Nagasai et al., 2022c also observed dif­
γ-111 peak intensity and a rise in the γ-200 peak intensity of the cylin­ ferences in α-Al orientations in the AA5356 aluminum cylindrical parts
ders built from the GMAW-WAAM to the CMT-WAAM, which is at different cooling rates by using different welding processes.
consistent with Ke et al. (2020) results. The results indicated that a
cylinder produced with the CMT-WAAM technology has more ferrite

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 9. Macrostructure of middle zone of WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical components, a-d) GMAW-WAAM process and e-f) CMT-WAAM process.

3.3. Mechanical properties cylinders processed using GMAW and CMT processes. From the results of
tensile properties, the following conclusions were derived:
Fig. 13 shows the microhardness variation along the building di­
rection of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. The produced 308 L SS cylinders i. The specimens sliced from the longitudinal orientation of the
had uniform hardness values (no major variations) along the building GMAW-WAAM 308 L SS cylinder exhibited higher strength (UTS)
direction. The average microhardness values of the lower, middle, and than the diagonal and transverse orientations;
upper zones of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders are presented in Table 5. The ii. The specimens sliced from the longitudinal orientation of the
hardness taken from the lower zone of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders was GMAW-WAAM 308 L SS cylinder showed higher ductility (elon­
higher than the middle and upper zones. The hardness of the CMT- gation) than the diagonal and transverse orientations;
WAAM cylinder is 4.02–5.88% higher compared to GMAW-WAAM iii. The tensile properties (UTS and EL) of the CMT-WAAM 308 L SS
cylinder, irrespective of zones (lower, middle, and upper). cylindrical component were almost isotropic in longitudinal,
Fig. 14 shows the tensile properties of specimens taken from longi­ transverse, and diagonal orientations;
tudinal, transverse, and diagonal orientations of WAAM 308 L SS

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 10. Macrostructure of upper zone of WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical components, a-d) GMAW-WAAM process and e-f) CMT-WAAM process.

v. The UTS of the CMT-WAAM cylinder is 5.15–7.0% higher

Table 4 compared to GMAW-WAAM cylinder, irrespective of orientations
Contents of δ and γ phases in WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. (longitudinal, transverse, and diagonal);
Process δ (%) γ (%) vi. The elongation of the CMT-WAAM cylinder is 4.29–7.80% higher
GMAW-WAAM 4.59 95.41 compared to GMAW-WAAM cylinder, irrespective of orientations
CMT-WAAM 6.91 93.09 (longitudinal, transverse, and diagonal).

The ASTM E8/8 M miniature tensile specimens showed good tensile

iv. The UTS and elongation of the CMT-WAAM cylinder are superior properties, which are equal to the conventional tensile specimen prop­
compared to GMAW-WAAM cylinder, irrespective of orientations erties reported by Le et al. (2021). Similarly, Byun et al. (2019) extracted
(longitudinal, transverse, and diagonal); tensile specimens from additively manufactured 316 L stainless steel
components based on the ASTM E8/8 M miniature standard. The au­
thors observed similar tensile properties in different printing conditions

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 11. Austenite and ferrite phases of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders.

Fig. 12. XRD patterns of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders.

due to the uniform microstructure. The tensile properties of the WAAM due to the upward growth of columnar dendrites. In recent studies re­
304 L stainless steel components were tested as per the ASTM E8/8 M ported by Zhang et al. (2021) and Kolhatkar et al. (2019), a comparative
miniature standard, reported by Ji et al. (2017). The authors noticed study was conducted between standard (conventional tensile specimens)
variation in tensile properties from horizontal to vertical directions is and non-standard (miniature tensile specimens) specimens of AM

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 13. Microhardness distribution of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders.

as-deposited cylinder has high elongation. The longitudinal direction

Table 5 specimens exhibited finer and deeper dimples, whereas the transverse
Average microhardness values of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. and diagonal specimens had shallower dimples, indicating that the
Process Location Hardness (HV0.5) longitudinal tensile specimen had high strength as well as ductility.
GMAW-WAAM Upper 199 Similar fracture results were observed by Wu et al., 2019a in the
Middle 212 stainless steel parts deposited by the GMAW-WAAM process. The au­
Lower 221 thors found high UTS and EL in the longitudinal direction rather than the
CMT-WAAM Upper 207 transverse direction due to large and deeper dimples.
Middle 219
Lower 234
The fracture surface of the tensile specimens of the CMT-WAAM
308 L SS cylinder is shown in Fig. 16. Fig. 16a and b shows transverse
orientation of the fracture surface of the specimens. The diagonal
components. Zhang et al. (2021b) observed almost similar tensile orientation of the fracture surface of the specimens is shown in Fig. 16c
properties (without major variation) in both the standard and and d. The longitudinal orientation of the fracture surface of the speci­
non-standard specimens of additively manufactured DP800, DP600, and mens is shown in Fig. 16e and f. In the fracture morphologies of the
316 L stainless steel components. longitudinal, transverse, and diagonal tensile specimens, there are
Ahsan et al. (2020) fabricated rectangular-shaped austenitic stainless numerous dimples with a homogeneous distribution. The appearance of
steel components by the WAAM technique. The average value of UTS is many dimples on the fracture morphologies implies that all of the
560.56 ± 6.23 MPa, which is lower than the WAAM cylindrical shape specimens failed as a result of ductile behaviour. However, there are
308 L SS component in the present study. Unlike a rectangular shape, a noticeable variances in the dimple sizes and depths between the parts
round shape has one continuous surface with no edges. Compared to the manufactured by GMAW and CMT WAAM processes. The dimple sizes
rectangular shape, the cylindrical shape is stronger as it has no weak and depths of the CMT-WAAM component are somewhat higher than
points from corners and consistent strength along its interior and exte­ those of the GMAW-WAAM component, indicating that the CMT-WAAM
rior surfaces. Sharp corners attract stress concentration, while curved component has better ductility. The inferences are reasonably consistent
ones do not. with the experimental data, as presented in Table 6. Prasanna Nagasai
et al., 2022d correlated the mechanical properties and microstructural
3.4. Fractography characteristics of GMAW and CMT-based additively manufactured steel
parts. The authors found higher strength and toughness in the
Fig. 15 shows the fracture morphologies of the GMAW-WAAM 308 L CMT-based manufactured cylinder. This is mainly due to the larger and
SS cylindrical component tensile specimens. The transverse orientation deeper dimples in the CMT cylinder specimens than in the GMAW cyl­
of the fracture morphology of the specimens is shown in Fig. 15a and b. inder specimens.
Fig. 15c and d shows the diagonal direction of the fracture morphology Fig. 17. shows the results EDS analysis of the GMAW and CMT
of the specimens. The longitudinal direction of the fracture morphology WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. The particle elements in the dimples of the
of the specimens is shown in Fig. 15e and f. The stress was equally longitudinal tensile specimens (taken from Fig. 15f) of the GMAW cyl­
distributed throughout the whole fracture surface during the tensile inder are shown in Fig. 17a. Fig. 17b shows the particle elements in the
testing, resulting in equiaxial dimples. There were multi-scale dimples. dimples of the longitudinal tensile specimen (taken from Fig. 16f) of the
Furthermore, tear edges were formed around the dimples, confirming CMT cylinder. The atomic percentage of oxygen was observed 20.34% in
that the plastic deformation was adequate. On the fracture surface, the GMAW-WAAM component and 15.78% in the CMT-WAAM
enormous dimples with a relatively homogenous distribution are component. Wang et al. (2019) also observed different atomic percent­
noticed, proving that the fracture mode is a ductile fracture and that the age of oxygen in SpeedPulse and SpeedArc WAAM stainless steel

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 14. Tensile properties of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders, a) UTS in L, T and D orientations and b) EL in L, T and D orientations.

components. The authors documented that the atomic percentage of presented below, taken from Li et al. (2015) work.
oxygen was reduced from 42.93% to 37.85% due to the controlled heat
input of SpeedArc WAAM process. According to the EDS results, the Nieq = % Ni + 30% C + 30% N + 0:5% Mn (1)
particles in the dimples are oxidising contaminants. This oxidising im­ Creq = % Cr + % Mo + 1:5% Si + 0:5% Nb (2)
purity increases brittleness of the material, which leads to the formation
of cracks. The atomic percentage of oxygen was lower in the CMT cyl­ According to the chemical elements of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders
inder than the GMAW cylinder due to the low heat input of CMT process. presented in Table 6, using the formulae of Eqs. (1) and (2), the Cr and
Ni equivalents are calculated and their values are 20.57 ± 0.004% and
4. Discussion 11.325 ± 0.03%, respectively. The ratio of Creq to Nieq is approximately
1.811 ± 0.005. The phase transition of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders is
4.1. Phase transformation in WAAM 308 L SS cylinders assumed to be L → L + δ → L + δ + γ → δ + γ → γ (FA mode), as reported
by Takalo et al. A schematic scheme of the microstructure at different
The microstructure of the GMAW and CMT WAAM 308 L SS cylin­ welding procedures is given in Fig. 18 to reveal the mechanism of the
ders varied slightly from the lower to the upper zone. This is mainly due microstructure of 308 L SS cylinders manufactured by the WAAM
to differences in thermal gradient from one zone to the other zone as technique explained by (Ke and Xiong, 2020 and Li et al. (2021).
well as changes in cooling rates in welding processes. The acceptable In general, the cooling rate of manufactured components is related to
Schaeffler equivalent formulae for 308 L stainless steel wire are the as-deposited microstructure by Skiba et al. (2009). When the cooling
rate exceeds a particular limit, the stability of the γ morphology, which

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 15. Fracture surfaces of GMAW-WAAM 308 L SS cylinder, a-b) transverse direction, b-d) diagonal direction and e-f) longitudinal direction.

might be considered the main phase, outperforms the ferrite in Fig. 18e. As shown in Fig. 18f, austenite grows until it reaches
morphology owing to differences in dendrite cooling by Li et al. (2015). 900–1000 ◦ C, at which point elemental (Ni, Mn, and C) diffusion is
Meanwhile, Chen et al. (2017) stated that for the GMAW-WAAM tech­ restricted and the δ-phase change into vermicular morphology is pre­
nique, the predominant solidification morphology of SS is δ ferrite if the served within austenite matrix. The CMT-WAAM technique accelerates
Creq: Nieq ratio is greater than 1.7. The Creq/Nieq ratio was found to be the solidification (as shown in Fig. 18c-d) process and suppresses the
1.81 in this investigation. The major solidification phase during the transition of ferrite to austenite, resulting in higher residual ferrite
solidification process is found to be δ-ferrite using the above (1) and (2) content. Fig. 18d) depicts how enormous δ morphologies with a fine
equations. First, the filler wire (ER308L SS) is melted into a liquid phase network or netlike structure are preserved within γ morphologies. As a
using arc heat (shown in Fig. 18a). Then, during the solidification pro­ result, in the upper zone, the δ morphology of the GMAW-WAAM pro­
cess (shown in Fig. 18b), γ will be formed in the dendritic ferrite (DF) duced cylinder contains vermicular δ ferrite, whereas the δ morphology
boundaries due to the peritectic-reaction (L + δ → γ). The DF was dis­ of the CMT-WAAM produced cylinder has reticular δ ferrite by (Ke and
solved, and the peritectic/eutectic reaction takes place to generate the γ Xiong, 2020) Moreover, the grain size of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders is
(as shown in Fig. 18c). Finally, the peritectic reaction occurs (δ + γ → γ), increased from the lower to upper zone due to the differences in thermal
and the majority of the primary ferrite is replaced by austenite, as shown gradient and solidification rates.

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 16. Fracture surfaces of CMT-WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical component, a-b) transverse direction, b-d) diagonal direction and e-f) longitudinal direction.

Table 6
Chemical composition of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders.
Element C P S Cr Ni Mo Cu Mn Si Fe

GMAW-WAAM 308 L SS Cylinder 0.022 0.029 0.021 19.81 9.89 0.01 0.081 1.69 0.5 Bal
CMT-WAAM 308 L SS Cylinder 0.020 0.028 0.022 19.70 9.72 0.009 0.082 1.73 0.55 Bal

4.2. Microhardness evolution higher than in the middle and upper zones, which is consistent with
Abioye et al. (2017) results. Meanwhile, the microhardness of the
The microhardness distribution (shown in Fig. 13) of the WAAM CMT-WAAM produced cylinder is higher than that of the GMAW-WAAM
308 L SS cylinders is consistent with microstructural characteristics. The produced cylinder in the same zone. The average microhardness values
fabricated cylinders exhibited uniform hardness (without major differ­ range between 199 and 221 HV0.5 for the GMAW-WAAM cylinder and
ences) values from the lower to upper zone. According to microhardness 207–234 HV0.5 for the CMT-WAAM cylinder. Microhardness differences
results, the hardness measured in the lower zone of the cylinders was are usually influenced by the microstructure of the produced

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 17. EDS analysis of WAAM longitudinal tensile specimens, a) GMAW and b) CMT.

Fig. 18. Schematic diagram of phase transformation of 308 L SS cylinders (Ke and Xiong, 2020).

components. The faster cooling rate in the weld pool during the specimens extracted from the longitudinal orientation of the GMAW-
CMT-WAAM process is supported by increasing the content of residual WAAM 308 L SS cylinder exhibited higher tensile properties (UTS and
ferrite and a decrease in the content of austenite, resulting in increased EL) than the diagonal and transverse orientations. The non-uniformity of
hardness. microstructures (upward growth of columnar structures) is responsible
for the variance in tensile properties. The transverse and diagonal
stretching resist internal grain forces and interlayer binding forces, but
4.3. Tensile properties evolution longitudinal stretching resists grain boundary forces. The results indi­
cated that bonding between interlayer’s was strong, but the forces be­
Fig. 14 shows the comparison of UTS for the longitudinal, transverse, tween grain boundaries were weak, and the forces within the grains
and diagonal directions of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. The variation were stronger than the forces between grain boundaries by Wu et al.,
in EL of the cylinders is shown in Fig. 14b. Prior to fracture, all of the 2019b. Prasanna Nagasai et al., 2021a also observed similar results in
samples were subjected to elastic and plastic deformation. All samples GMAW-WAAM cylindrical wall steel parts. The authors observed vari­
had ultimate tensile strengths of more than 580 MPa, which is obvious. ations in tensile properties from one region to another region. The top
The mechanical properties (UTS and EL) were slightly changed from the region exhibited higher strength and elongation than the bottom region
one direction to other direction of the GMAW-WAAM cylinder. The

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 19. Anisotropy behaviour of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders.

Table 7
Comparison of tensile properties of WAAM 308 L SS cylinders with widely used wrought 308 L stainless steel alloy, ASTM A479 ER308L welding wire and other arc
welding based WAAM 308 L stainless steel parts.
Process Specimen location UTS (MPa) EL (%) Reference

Wrought 308 L steel / 530–650 35–45 Lippold and Kotecki, 2005

ASTM A479 ER308L annealed condition / ≥ 515 ≥ 30 Li et al. (2021)
Industrial requirement properties of stainless steel as per forging standards / 450 / Wu et al., 2019a
GTA-AM 308 L stainless steel part T 490.72 48.62 Zhang et al.(2021a)
L 570.71 53.7
Plasma based AM 308 L stainless steel Bottom region L 511 47
T 488 55
Middle region L 505 57 Li et al. (2020)
T 467 58
Top region L 477 52
T 489 53
Laser based-AM 308 LSi stainless steel part L 548 43 Abioye et al. (2017)
T 482 38
GMAW-WAAM 308 L stainless steel part T 531.78 39.58 Le et al. (2021)
L 552.95 54.13
GTA-AM 308 L stainless steel part Single wire-AM 492 50 Ke and Xiong (2020)
Double wire-AM 571 51.5
Present study GMAW-WAAM 308 L SS cylinder L 582 51.53 /
D 561 47.46
T 535 44.23
CMT-WAAM 308 L SS cylindrical L 612.66 55.55
D 593.33 50.13
T 574.66 46.13

due to the hard Widmanstätten ferrite and acicular ferrite. variation. The UTS and EL of the CMT-WAAM cylinder are superior
The CMT-WAAM 308 L SS cylinder showed almost similar tensile compared to GMAW-WAAM cylinder, irrespective of orientations (lon­
properties (UTS and EL) in three directions. The anisotropy of the me­ gitudinal, transverse, and diagonal). Metal and alloy strengths are
chanical properties of the specimens is due to columnar austenitic and known to be significantly influenced by microstructural refinement.
dendritic structures, which are typical of AM-produced materials. Dur­ According to the Hall-Petch relation, a finer microstructure promotes
ing plastic deformation, dendritic δ-ferrite causes a hardening effect mechanical properties, reported by Zuback and DebRoy (2018). There­
similar to grain refinement due to the limitation of the dislocation free fore, the CMT-WAAM component features higher UTS and EL due to its
path between interphase boundaries (austenite/δ-ferrite), reported by favourable microstructural characteristics. Wang et al. (2019) correlated
Astafurova et al. (2020). With the fast cooling of the short-circuit mode mechanical and microstructural characteristics of SpeedArc and
of the CMT process, it was observed that the upward growth of columnar SpeedPulse based additively deposited stainless steel components. The
dendrites (γ/δ) was controlled and increased refinement in grain size, authors documented that the UTS and YS of stainless steel parts
which resulted in almost similar tensile properties without much exhibited better performance in horizontal direction. The tensile

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

Fig. 20. Current-voltage wave forms: a) GMAW process, b) CMT process and c) wire retraction mechanism of CMT process.

properties of the parts processed by SpeedArc-AM are higher than those form the next weld drop. In the CMT process, the wire travels continu­
of parts processed by SpeedPulse-AM due to the finer solidification ously until a short circuit occurs, while in the GMAW process, there is no
morphology provided by SpeedArc-AM process. In the present study, the wire movement and there is a constant current during deposition (shown
tensile properties are studied in three directions to understand the in Fig. 20a). During the arcing phase of the CMT process (shown in
anisotropy behaviour of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. Fig. 19 shows the Fig. 20b), the current varies from a higher to a lower value, resulting in a
anisotropy percentages of UTS of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders. The short-circuit at a very low level of current at the short-circuit phase
anisotropy percentages of UTS are 7.02% and 8.07% for the (shown in Fig. 20c), as reported by Prasanna Nagasai et al., 2022b. Due
GMAW-WAAM cylinder, and 5.16% and 6.21% for the CMT-WAAM to the reduced heat input of the short-circuit mode of the CMT process, it
cylinder. The percentage of anisotropy (UTS) of the CMT-WAAM cyl­ was observed that the upward growth of columnar dendrites (γ/δ) was
inder showed lower than the GMAW-WAAM cylinder. The percentage of controlled, and increased content of residual ferrite, which enhanced the
anisotropy (UTS) was below 10% in both the GMAW and CMT WAAM mechanical properties of the CMT-WAAM 308 L SS cylinder compared
308 L SS cylinders. It indicates that the manufactured cylinders to GMAW-WAAM cylinder and the properties of other conventional arc
exhibited isotropic properties. welding AM techniques, as described by (Lippold and Savage, 1979).
Table 7 compares the tensile properties of the previous studies for the The produced WAAM 308 L SS cylinders showed better performance
wrought 308 L SS alloy, WAAM 308 L SS components, industrial than the properties of stainless steel for industrial forging standards
requirement properties of stainless steel as per forging standards, and (refer Table 7). Therefore, the properties of the WAAM 308 L SS cylin­
ER308L SS welding wire. The specimens tested from the longitudinal, drical components are confirmed to be adequate for industrial applica­
transverse, and diagonal directions of the WAAM 308 L SS cylinders (in tion. In comparison to other manufacturing processes, forged austenitic
the present study) showed equal or higher values of UTS and EL than the stainless steel has an austenite equiaxed crystal structure, whereas
properties of the wrought 308 L stainless steel and ASTM A479 ER308L additively produced 308 L has an austenite columnar crystal structure.
stainless steel welding wire, reported by Li et al. (2021) and (Lippold Despite the differences in structure, the tensile strength of the additive
and kotecki, 2005). According to previous studies (refer Table 7), the manufactured 308 L component is higher than that of filler wire, re­
cylinder manufactured by the CMT-WAAM process showed equal or ported by Zhong et al. (2017). Although the tensile strengths of the
higher values of UTS and EL than the other arc welding based additively WAAM 308 L components produced by GMAW and CMT arc welding
manufactured 308 L stainless steel parts, reported by Abioye et al. had little anisotropy, the lowest value satisfied industrial requirements
(2017), Le et al. (2021), (Ke and Xiong, 2020), Li et al. (2020), Zhang reported by Wu et al., 2019a. The growth direction of columnar crystals
et al. (2021a) and Wu et al., 2019a. The upward growth of columnar should be modified or the column crystals broken and improved in
dendrites in vertical direction will affect the mechanical properties of future studies to increase the uniformity of mechanical characteristics.
WAAM stainless steel parts.
CMT-WAAM is an advanced welding technique for building com­ 5. Conclusions
ponents with high deposition rate. It employs a wire retraction system,
which sends a signal that retracts the welding wire and allows time to In this study, the microstructural and mechanical properties of 308 L

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B.P. Nagasai et al. Journal of Materials Processing Tech. 307 (2022) 117655

SS cylinders produced by two different WAAM techniques (CMT and arc additive manufacturing. Mater. Sci. Eng: A 703, 567–577. https://doi.org/
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Declaration of Competing Interest Part 1. A Propos. Model. Weld. J. 58, 362–374.
Lorenzo, B., Matteo, V., Alessandro, P., 2019. Development of a miniaturized specimen to
perform uniaxial tensile tests on high performance materials. Procedia Struct. Int.
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
24, 213–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2020.02.018.
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence Montevecchi, F., Venturini, G., Grossi, N., Scippa, A., Campatelli, G., 2018. Idle times
the work reported in this paper. selection for wire arc additive manufacturing: a finite element based technique. Add.
Man. 21, 479–486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2018.01.007.
Osintsev, K., Konovalov, S., Zaguliaev, D., Ivanov, Y., Gromov, V., Panchenko, I., 2022.
Acknowledgements Investigation of Co-Cr-Fe-Mn-Ni non-equiatomic high-entropy alloy fabricated by
wire arc additive manufacturing. Meta 12, 197. https://doi.org/10.3390/
The first author is grateful to the Department of Science and Tech­ met12020197.
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nology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, based on variable polarity gas tungsten arc welding: process control and
New Delhi, for the financial assistance provided through the PURSE- microstructure. Mater. Man. Proc. 17, 103–124. https://doi.org/10.1081/AMP-
Phase-2 Fellowship scheme. The authors express their gratitude to M/s. 120002801.
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