Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is a Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) technology where a complex 3D metal part is built from powder layers, which are selectively consolidated using a laser heat source. The processing zone is in the order of a few tenths of micrometer, making L-PBF a multi-scale manufacturing process. The formation and growth of gas pores and the creation of un-melted powder zones can be predicted by multiphysics models. Also, with these models, the melt pool shape and size, temperature distribution, melt pool fluid flow and its microstructural features like grain size and morphology can be calculated. In this work, a high fidelity multi-physics meso-scale numerical model is developed for stainless steel 316-L which includes melting, solidification, fluid flow, surface tension, thermo-capillarity, evaporation and multiple reflection with ray-tracing. A statistical study using a full Design of Experiments (DoE) method was conducted, wherein the impact of uncertain material properties and process parameters namely absorptivity, recoil pressure (vaporization) and laser beam size on the melt pool shape and size was analysed. Furthermore, to emphasize on the significance of the above mentioned uncertain input parameters on the melt pool dynamics, a main effects plot was created which showed that absorptivity had the highest impact followed by laser beam size. The significance of recoil pressure on the melt pool size increases with melt pool volume which is dependent on absorptivity. The prediction accuracy of the model is validated by comparing the melt pool shape and size from the simulation with single track experiments that were produced with similar process parameters. Moreover, the effect of thermal lensing was considered in the numerical model by increasing the laser beam size and later on the resultant melt pool profile was compared with experiments to show the robustness of the model.
Multi-physics numerical modelling of 316L Austenitic stainless steel in laser powder bed fusion process at meso-scale
M. Baier;S. Carmignato;
2022
Abstract
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is a Metal Additive Manufacturing (MAM) technology where a complex 3D metal part is built from powder layers, which are selectively consolidated using a laser heat source. The processing zone is in the order of a few tenths of micrometer, making L-PBF a multi-scale manufacturing process. The formation and growth of gas pores and the creation of un-melted powder zones can be predicted by multiphysics models. Also, with these models, the melt pool shape and size, temperature distribution, melt pool fluid flow and its microstructural features like grain size and morphology can be calculated. In this work, a high fidelity multi-physics meso-scale numerical model is developed for stainless steel 316-L which includes melting, solidification, fluid flow, surface tension, thermo-capillarity, evaporation and multiple reflection with ray-tracing. A statistical study using a full Design of Experiments (DoE) method was conducted, wherein the impact of uncertain material properties and process parameters namely absorptivity, recoil pressure (vaporization) and laser beam size on the melt pool shape and size was analysed. Furthermore, to emphasize on the significance of the above mentioned uncertain input parameters on the melt pool dynamics, a main effects plot was created which showed that absorptivity had the highest impact followed by laser beam size. The significance of recoil pressure on the melt pool size increases with melt pool volume which is dependent on absorptivity. The prediction accuracy of the model is validated by comparing the melt pool shape and size from the simulation with single track experiments that were produced with similar process parameters. Moreover, the effect of thermal lensing was considered in the numerical model by increasing the laser beam size and later on the resultant melt pool profile was compared with experiments to show the robustness of the model.Pubblicazioni consigliate
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