Forming and mechanical properties of wire arc additive manufacture for marine propeller bracket

Abstract The marine propeller bracket is a complex core component of large ship power system. Wire Arc additive manufacturing is an effective method to manufacture propeller bracket, which consists of the hub, the support and cross arm. For obtaining high forming precision, offset filling method for printing hub and scanning filling method for printing support and cross arm are adopted. Central deviations of deposition layer are acquired by a 3D scanner and a program written by Matlab software. Adjusting print path in real time to improve forming precision of bracket. The cross section center offset of each deposition layer is within ±0.6mm while the dimensional errors of bracket are within ±0.8 mm. The microstructure of bracket is composed of ferrite, lath bainite and VC precipitates. The tensile strength of printed bracket is 796 MPa, the yield strength is 660 MPa and the impact toughness at −20°C is 53 J.