The influence of laser characteristics on internal flow behaviour in laser melting of metallic substrates (original) (raw)
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metals, 2021
The parameter sets used during the selective laser melting (SLM) process directly affect the final product through the resulting melt-pool temperature. Achieving the optimum set of parameters is usually done experimentally, which is a costly and time-consuming process. Additionally, controlling the deviation of the melt-pool temperature from the specified value during the process ensures that the final product has a homogeneous microstructure. This study proposes a multiphysics numerical model that explores the factors affecting the production of parts in the SLM process and the mathematical relationships between them, using stainless steel 316L powder. The effect of laser power and laser spot diameter on the temperature of the melt-pool at different scanning velocities were studied. Thus, mathematical expressions were obtained to relate process parameters to melt-pool temperature. The resulting mathematical relationships are the basic elements to design a controller to instantly control the melt-pool temperature during the process. In the study, test samples were produced using simulated parameters to validate the simulation approach. Samples produced using simulated parameter sets resulting in temperatures of 2000 (K) and above had acceptable microstructures. Evaporation defects caused by extreme temperatures, unmelted powder defects due to insufficient temperature, and homogenous microstructures for suitable parameter sets predicted by the simulations were obtained in the experimental results, and the model was validated.
Numerical modelling and experimental validation in Selective Laser Melting
Additive manufacturing, 2017
In this work a finite-element framework for the numerical simulation of the heat transfer analysis of additive manufacturing processes by powder-bed technologies, such as Selective Laser Melting, is presented. These kind of technologies allow for a layer-by-layer metal deposition process to cost-effectively create, directly from a CAD model, complex functional parts such as turbine blades, fuel injectors, heat exchangers, medical implants, among others. The numerical model proposed accounts for different heat dissipation mechanisms through the surrounding environment and is supplemented by a finite-element activation strategy, based on the born-dead elements technique, to follow the growth of the geometry driven by the metal deposition process, in such a way that the same scanning pattern sent to the numerical control system of the AM machine is used. An experimental campaign has been carried out at the Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing using an EOSINT-M280 machine where it w...
Modelling of Selective Laser Melting Process for Additive Manufacturing
Acta Metallurgica Slovaca, 2020
The proposed model is a numerical tool for designing processing windows suitable to metal alloy. The model is validated fitting experimental measures of track width, depth and cross sectional area from three literature sources. Effective liquid pool thermal conductivity laser absorptivity and depth of application of laser energy are here considered as fitting parameters. Laser absorptivity and depth of application of laser energy result to rise almost linearly with increasing specific energy.. The obtained results give confidence about the possibility of using the model as a predicting tool after further calibration on a wider range of metal alloys.
Materials, 2020
The rapidly ascending trend of additive manufacturing techniques requires a tailoring of existing solidification models and the development of new numerical tools. User-friendly numerical models can be a valid aid in order to optimize operating parameter ranges with the scope to extend the modelling tools to already existing or innovative alloys. In this paper a modelling approach is described simulating the generation of single tracks on a powder bed system in a selective laser melting process. The approach we report attains track geometry as a function of: alloy thermo-physical properties, laser speed and power, powder bed thickness. Aim of the research is to generate a numerical tool able to predict laser power and speed ranges in manufacturing porosity-free printed parts without lack of fusion and keyhole pores. The approach is based on a simplified description of the physical aspects. Main simplifications concern: the laser energy input, the formation of the pool cavity, and th...
Revealing the effects of laser beam shaping on melt pool behaviour in conduction-mode laser melting
Journal of Materials Research and Technology, 2023
Laser beam shaping offers remarkable possibilities to control and optimise process stability and tailor material properties and structure in laser-based welding and additive manufacturing. However, little is known about the influence of laser beam shaping on the complex melt-pool behaviour, solidified melt-track bead profile and microstructural grain morphology in laser material processing. A simulation-based approach is utilised in the present work to study the effects of laser beam intensity profile and angle of incidence on the melt-pool behaviour in conduction-mode laser melting of stainless steel 316L plates. The present high-fidelity physicsbased computational model accounts for crucial physical phenomena in laser material processing such as complex laser-matter interaction, solidification and melting, heat and fluid flow dynamics, and free-surface oscillations. Experiments were carried out using different laser beam shapes and the validity of the numerical predictions is demonstrated. The results indicate that for identical processing parameters, reshaping the laser beam leads to notable changes in the thermal and fluid flow fields in the melt pool, affecting the melt-track bead profile and solidification microstructure. The columnar-to-equiaxed transition is discussed for different laser-intensity profiles.