Effect of robotic weaving motion on mechanical and microstructural characteristics of wire arc additively manufactured NiTi shape memory alloy

Abstract The effect of robotic weaving motion on the crystallographic orientation, texture and mechanical properties of thin-walled nickel titanium shape memory alloy fabricated via wire arc additive manufacturing is studied. Crystallographic orientation analysis reveals that the weaving motion alters the epitaxial growth of grains, which reduces the fraction of (001) oriented grains but increased the fraction of (110) and (111) oriented grains. Moreover, the weaving motion increases the fraction of equiaxed grains and homogeneously distributes Ni 4 Ti 3 phases. These changes improve the hardness and strength of the build and also introduce isotropy in mechanical properties. Results of the study reveal that arc weaving strategy has a great potential in achieving near isotropic tensile characteristics and is beneficial in terms of tailoring texture in building nickel titanium thin-walled smart material structures.