Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) is an emerging and promising technology for producing medium-to-large-scale metallic components/structures for different industries, i.e., aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding, etc. It is now a feasible alternative to traditional manufacturing processes due to its shorter lead time, low material waste, and cost-effectiveness. WAAM has been widely used to produce components using different materials, including copper-based alloy wires, in the past decades. This review paper highlights the critical aspects of WAAM process in terms of technology, various challenges faced during WAAM process, different in-process and post-process operations, process monitoring methods, various gases, and different types of materials used in WAAM process. Furthermore, it briefly overviews recent developments in depositing different copper-based alloys via WAAM process.

Copper-based alloys are widely known for their high thermal and electrical conductivity. Although the use of these alloys in powder-based additive manufacturing (AM) shows significant promise, applying this method in wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) processes poses various considerable challenges, including porosity, delamination, surface oxidation, etc. The limited research on WAAM of copper alloys, especially Cu1897, highlights the need for a more in-depth investigation. This study addresses the effects of process parameters in pulse cold metal transfer (CMT)-based WAAM of Cu1897, i.e., pulse correction (PC) and arc length correction (ALC), on bead penetration and porosity. The results showed that as PC was increased from −5 to +5, weld bead penetration increased from 2.38 mm to 3.87 mm. To further enhance penetration and reduce the porosity, the ALC was varied from +30% to −30% with a step size of 15%. The results showed that weld bead penetration increased to 4.47 mm by altering the ALC from +30% to −30%. Additionally, as the ALC varied within this range, porosity decreased significantly from 3.98% to 0.28%. Overall, it is concluded that a lower value of ALC is recommended to improve bead penetration and reduce porosity in WAAM of Cu1897.

The increasing importance of sustainability in the manufacturing industry necessitates that, alongside economic efficiency, resource and energy consumption must also be taken into account when planning manufacturing processes. In particular, the mechanical processing of components on machine tools offers significant potential to reduce energy consumption during machining. This article presents a method for planning energy-efficient machining processes, illustrated through the example of turning. The proposed planning methodology is based on mathematical optimization and determines economically optimal cutting parameters while simultaneously ensuring efficient energy utilization. The effectiveness of the planning approach is subsequently validated through a case study involving a sample-turned component.