Quality Assurance and Control in Welding and Additive Manufacturing

Summary

Welding is one of the oldest and most traditional methods of joining metals. It is used in a variety of applications like automotive, aerospace, construction, infrastructure, shipping, locomotives, and other applications. We also have additive manufacturing (AM), which, as the name suggests, involves adding material (in layers) in the desired dimensions and shapes to create the required parts. Like welding, AM has several applications, such as aerospace, automotive, medical implants, machinery, and various custom parts. Welding and additive manufacturing may have as many challenges as several other applications. There could be several issues and quality defects in the process of welding and AM. Some common quality issues with welding are incomplete penetration, incomplete fusion, cracks, undercutting, porosity, spatter, slug inclusions, and longitudinal cracking; for AM there are other issues such as strength of the part, brittleness, precision, repeatability, and impurities. Modern technology has answers to some of these problems since automated processes are more consistent and precise. The quality of the product in production is so important that it could cost an organization anywhere from 25% to 40% of its operating expenses. In 2021 alone, the AM market was estimated to be worth $16.86 billion globally. This would mean the cost of poor quality could be several billion dollars for additive manufacturing, and when welding quality costs are considered, this number would only get bigger. If the inputs for welding like temperature and voltage are kept in check, it is easier to control factors such as welding speed, wire feed speed, and nozzle‐to‐metal distance through automation. Similarly, for AM, if variables like temperature and feeding material are taken care of, then automation could handle other factors like speed, feed, and layer thickness. However, even with technological advances, such as Industry 5.0, where there is minimum human intervention and IoT plays a major role, there could still be challenges that need to be addressed, and this chapter specifically focuses on the challenges that Industry 5.0 can address, the challenges that might remain, and any new challenges that might arise with the use of such technology.