3D‐Printing with steel of a bolted connection

Additive Manufacturing seems promising for the steel construction industry, especially for small components with complex shapes. With Wire‐and‐Arc‐Additive‐Manufacturing (WAAM) a process was found which is fast and cheap compared to other Additive Manufacturing processes for metals. Furthermore, arc‐welding is well known in steel construction industry. Bolted head plates are a common connection. Although they are relatively easy to produce, they are uneconomical in load transfer due to straining of the plates which are subject to bending. This type of connection is predestined for Additive Manufacturing. Rethinking the structure by taking into account the potentials of Additive Manufacturing brings a clear advantage compared to the conventional production. Thus, with a material saving of 60 % the same load capacity of the original flat head plate can be achieved. The paper shows how the new production process WAAM can significantly change the shape of structures on the example of a bolted head plate. Therefore, all steps from the original design to the manufactured structure are demonstrated, including the structure finding by using topology optimization, the manufacturing with different parameters and a first testing of the manufactured structures.