Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) is an additive manufacturing process in which a three-dimensional component is built using a layer-by-layer approach. Highly localized heating and repeated thermal cycles induce temperature gradients in the part, resulting in residual stresses and deformation. Cracking, porosity, and lack of fusion may also occur. While the L-PBF process can be optimized to mitigate these issues, this can be time-consuming and costly. In response to this challenge, EWI has developed a transient thermal-mechanical analysis method to predict temperature, stress, strain, and deformation in L-PBF builds. This technique can be used to optimize preheating temperatures, laser process parameters, hatch spacing, and scan patterns to improve overall L-PBF build quality.
Yu-Ping Yang, Principal Engineer in EWI’s modeling group, has written Optimizing the Laser Powder Bed Fusion Process with Numerical Modeling to discuss EWI’s development of a transient thermal-mechanical analysis method for predicting temperature, stress, strain, and deformation. To read the article, click here.
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