IIT Indore Research Team Publishes Three Consecutive Papers in Tribology International, Showcasing Progression from WAAM-TIG to In-Situ Alloy Design

Indore, September 18, 2026: A research team from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore has marked a notable academic milestone with three consecutive research publications in the international journal Tribology International, with all three studies focused on wire arc additive manufacturing, tribological performance and advanced metallic materials.

The three publications present a continuous research journey, progressing from the improvement of pure copper fabricated through WAAM-TIG, to the development of functionally continuous gradient materials using two wires, and subsequently to the in-situ fabrication of a Ni-Cu-Al ternary alloy using three independently fed wires.

The research has been carried out under the guidance of Dr. Yuvraj K. Madhukar, with contributions from researchers including Arun Kumar Singh, Shubham Sadhya, Mukul Anand Jha, Dipanjan Dey, Indrasen Singh, B. Praveenkumar and Satyajit Chatterjee across the three studies.

Three Publications Reflect a Progressive Research Programme

The sequence of publications demonstrates an expansion in the scope of the team’s work.

The first study concentrated on improving the performance of a single material. The second introduced controlled compositional variation between two alloys, while the third moved toward in-situ alloy development through simultaneous feeding of three different wires.

Together, the studies establish a progression from material processing to material architecture and ultimately material design.

First Study Focused on Pure Copper

The first paper, titled “Enhancement in tribological performance of copper through interpass arc remelting during WAAM-TIG fabrication,” investigated the use of interpass arc remelting to improve the properties of pure copper produced using WAAM-TIG.

Copper has excellent electrical and thermal conductivity, but its tribological performance can present challenges in demanding applications.

The researchers found that interpass arc treatment could significantly modify the microstructure of the deposited copper. The reported microstructural scale was reduced from approximately 310 micrometres to about 86 and 79 micrometres under the investigated treatments.

The study also reported improved densification and reduced porosity.

According to the reported results, the specific wear rate was reduced by approximately three times at room temperature, 2.5 times at 250°C, and 4.5 times at 550°C under the investigated conditions.

Improvements were also reported in scratch hardness and fracture toughness.

The findings provided the foundation for the group’s subsequent investigations into controlling material properties through WAAM-TIG processing.

Second Study Introduced Functionally Graded Materials

The second publication expanded the research from a single material to a multi-material architecture.

The paper, titled “Development of IN718–Ti6Al4V functionally continuous gradient material by dual wire WAAM-TIG and its tribo-mechanical characteristics,” explored the fabrication of functionally continuous gradient materials using IN718 and Ti6Al4V.

A dual-wire WAAM-TIG approach was employed to control the composition of the deposited material.

Instead of creating a conventional sharp boundary between two different alloys, the researchers developed a gradual compositional transition.

The study reported successful fabrication of IN718–Ti6Al4V gradient structures and investigated their microstructural, mechanical and tribological characteristics.

The Ti-rich regions showed approximately three times higher hardness and around 35% higher ultimate tensile strength than the IN718 region, according to the reported findings.

The research also reported an approximately 60% improvement in scratch-derived fracture toughness and about a 30% reduction in coefficient of friction and specific wear rate in Ti-rich regions.

The results demonstrated how controlling the composition during additive manufacturing could produce different properties at different locations within the same structure.

Third Study Advances Towards In-Situ Alloy Design

The third publication represents another step in the research programme.

Titled “Tribo-mechanical response of Ni-Cu-Al ternary alloy fabricated by concurrent three-wire WAAM-TIG,” the study investigated simultaneous feeding of nickel, copper and aluminium wires into a WAAM-TIG system.

The approach enabled the researchers to fabricate a Ni-Cu-Al ternary alloy directly during the additive manufacturing process.

The reported material exhibited an average hardness of approximately 233 ± 7 HV0.3.

The researchers reported tensile strength in the range of approximately 445–465 MPa, with around 40% elongation, while ultimate compressive strength was reported at approximately 1.43–1.45 GPa.

Tribological testing also formed a major part of the investigation. The study reported an average coefficient of friction of approximately 0.35 and a specific wear rate of approximately 4.83 × 10⁻⁵ mm³/N·m under the investigated conditions.

The work further examined the relationship between elemental composition, microstructure, intermetallic phases, mechanical properties and tribological behaviour.

From Single Material to Three-Wire Alloy Manufacturing

The three publications collectively demonstrate how the research programme has evolved.

The first research stage focused on modifying the microstructure and wear behaviour of pure copper.

The second stage introduced dual-wire deposition and functionally continuous compositional gradients.

The third stage progressed to concurrent three-wire deposition for in-situ ternary alloy fabrication.

This progression can be summarized as:

Pure Copper
↓
Microstructural and tribological modification
↓
IN718–Ti6Al4V dual-wire gradient material
↓
Spatial control of material properties
↓
Ni-Cu-Al three-wire alloy
↓
In-situ multi-element alloy design

A Notable Publication Milestone

Having three closely related research papers published consecutively in Tribology International represents a significant publication milestone for the research group.

The importance of the achievement lies not only in the number of publications but also in the continuity of the research direction.

Each study addresses a more advanced level of material control than the preceding work—from modifying an existing deposited material to controlling composition across a structure and then producing a multi-element alloy through independently controlled wire feedstocks.

A broader claim that no other IIT, IISc or reputed research institution has achieved an identical publication sequence would require a comprehensive comparison of publication records across institutions and time periods. However, the three-paper sequence itself represents a distinctive and substantial research accomplishment for the team.

WAAM-TIG Emerging as a Platform for Material Development

The studies also highlight the expanding role of wire arc additive manufacturing in advanced materials research.

WAAM is commonly associated with the rapid production of large metallic components. However, the research demonstrates how controlling multiple feedstocks and processing conditions can potentially turn the technology into a platform for tailoring composition, microstructure and performance.

The ability to independently control wire feed rates may provide researchers with opportunities to investigate new multi-material and multi-element systems without relying exclusively on conventional alloy manufacturing routes.

Such approaches could be relevant to future applications requiring combinations of mechanical strength, wear resistance, toughness and other functional properties.

Research Direction Continues

The three consecutive publications establish a clear research trajectory for the IIT Indore team in the fields of WAAM-TIG, tribology, functionally graded materials, multi-wire additive manufacturing and in-situ alloy development.

From improving pure copper to developing an IN718–Ti6Al4V gradient and subsequently fabricating a Ni-Cu-Al alloy using three independently fed wires, the studies show an expanding effort to control materials at both the processing and compositional levels.

The achievement brings together three papers, one research platform and a continuous scientific direction—moving from depositing materials to modifying them, grading them and ultimately exploring the possibility of designing alloys during the manufacturing process itself.