Investigating the Impact of Robotic Milling Parameters on the Surface Roughness of Al-Alloy Fabricated by Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing

This paper takes the single-wall wall manufactured by wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) as the research object and compares it with the as-cast aluminum alloy with the same series. By using feed rate, cutting depth, spindle speed, etc., as single or compound parameters, the machinability of the sample is analyzed. The results indicate that the influence of varying parameters on the as-deposited aluminum alloy follows the order of feed rate > cutting depth > spindle speed. As the feed rate increases, the surface roughness initially decreases and then increases, with the optimal surface quality achieved at 12 mm/s (with a surface roughness of 2.013 $\mathsf{\mu }\mathrm{m}$). Different from the as-deposited alloy, the influence of the parameters on the as-cast alloys follows the order of spindle speed > cutting depth > feed rate. The experiments reveal that, for both as-deposited and as-cast states, the trends of the impact of cutting depth and spindle speed on surface quality are consistent. However, at low feed rates (2–12 mm/s), for as-deposited states, the surface quality of as-deposited samples becomes smoother as the feed rate increases (contrary to common knowledge). This result can be attributed to the elevated milling temperature, which softens the material, making it easier to remove and reducing the surface roughness.