Since its inception, WAAM3D has been dedicated to developing and refining processes that leverage standard off-the-shelf energy sources, including PTA, GMA, and laser. Among these, the PTA process has been a hallmark of WAAM3D, renowned for its exceptional quality and control. This process ensures optimal deposition conditions and superior material properties, making it ideal for applications requiring high precision and quality.
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However, the demand for higher productivity, especially in sectors such as energy, has necessitated a shift towards GMA processes like Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) and Pulse Metal Inert Gas (PMIG). While these processes offer greater deposition rates, they fall short in control for Additive Manufacturing (AM) applications due to their linear dependency between material and energy inputs. This inherent limitation restricts their use to simple geometries and applications where precise control of the microstructure and properties is not critical.

Our patented G-MAX process addresses these limitations head-on. This groundbreaking process not only provides a high level of control but also enhances process efficiency by achieving higher deposition rates at the same energy input. The result is a significant boost in productivity through faster process speeds without compromising on the quality and precision required for high-performance materials.

G-MAX process not only provides higher levels of control but also enhances process efficiency with higher deposition rates at the same energy input. We have achieved a significant boost in productivity through 5x process speeds, whilst delivering quality and precision. Printing more than 100 kg in a day is now a reality with our patented process and RoboWAAM XP.

RoboWAAM XP can be deployed to produce heavy metal parts rapidly and consistently. It is ideal for industries with challenging scheduling requirements, either for serial production or spare parts, and even for the repair of existing assets.

• Deposit 100+ kg in less than one day. RoboWAAM XP features our newest patented G-MAX multi-wire process, which enables industry-leading deposition rates of up to 15 kg/h, as well as MIG, MAG, and CMT.
• Build parts of up to 2m x 2m x 2m (configuration dependent) and 2,100 kg. Celebrate WAAM's geometrical capability by using RoboWAAM® XP 8 axes of motion in a coordinated way, thanks to WAAMPlanner's automation.
• Print alloys of iron, aluminium, nickel, and copper, natively. Join our partners in the energy, space, marine, and mining industries with whom we've been developing the G-MAX process since 2018.

WAAMCtrl is an all-encompassing operating system for WAAM3D’s RoboWAAM, which is a next generation large format 3D metal additive printing platform for multi-metre metallic part development for aerospace, defence, oil and gas and research communities.

WAAMCtrl enables the monitoring, control, digital twin mapping, hardware and health and safety management of a component, as it is being produced. As well as enabling operators to have a fully controllable production process, WAAMCtrl also produces fully auditable data storage, quality logs, and interactive data navigation to enable the demonstration of compliance in a fully repeatable way.

WAAMCtrl’s primary features

• Process monitoring of voltage, current, wire feed speed, travel speed, wire position, layer height, pre- and post- deposition temperature, oxygen, gas flow and melt pool in combination with RoboWAAM’s hardware
• Database logging
• Real time rendering of 3D map of logged data
• Industry 4.0 enabled with downstream big data analysis
• Can be integrated with ERP systems for push to post-processes
• Seamlessly integrated onto WAAM3D’s hardware and sensors

Real-time control

Tens of times per second, state-of-the-art sensors transmit information to WAAMCtrl for monitoring and control, enabling the operators to see in real-time how the project is progressing. Real-time colour-coding of the 3D charts help those producing the component to make sense of the big data, mapped over the part’s geometry.

Evaluation

Audit Exporting enables the easy monitoring of the component’s progress, managing the production of the part from material source to shipping. Also, the progress and quality of a component can be evaluated from anywhere in the world, with templated Audit Forms. WAAMCtrl records all the process data, making them easily accessible should the production process need to be assessed. Thanks to WAAMCtrl’s use of SPC, its monitoring output enables the demonstration of robustness, validity and compliance to certification boards and other regulatory bodies.

WAAMPlanner is a specialized software tool designed to support Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM). We initially tried to work with existing providers of Computer-Aided Manufacturing software, but we could not achieve the efficiency and rigour we wanted for our customers. That is why we have developed WAAMPlanner from the ground up, with additive manufacturing in mind, based on almost two decades of successful part-building history at Cranfield University.

Tool‑path Planning: Takes your CAD model and slices it into layers. You can define the build strategy using planar, non-planar, or axisymmetric segmentation and multi-hierarchical path grouping.

Deposition Strategy: Automatically assign welding parameters (like wire feed, current, speed) tailored to material and local geometry (thermal compensation, multi-material support).

Post‑processing Output: Converts the planned toolpath into executable code, instantly ready to feed into our hardware, RoboWAAM or MiniWAAM systems. But also, WAAMPlanner is capable of working with non-WAAM3D systems, subject to the actual hardware setup.

We have responded to our customers’ wish to be able to print with as little effort as possible. You shouldn’t have to be an expert in welding, robotics, sensing, and metrology to be able to print something good! It’s built to remove the need for deep welding, robotics, or sensing expertise, giving users an “effortless” printing experience.