Finite element simulation of laser additive melting and solidification of Inconel 718 with experimentally tested thermal properties

Richard Andreotta, Leila Ladani, William Brindley

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

70 Scopus citations

Abstract

Powdered metal additive manufacturing technology shows great promise in the aerospace industry. Accurately simulating the associated processes will allow process windows and physical phenomena to be thoroughly investigated without the need for costly and time consuming experiments. The authors have expanded upon previous thermal finite element models by including mass and momentum balance equations which allow for the direct simulation of fluid flow in addition to thermal transport. This is accomplished by the incorporation of the forced rigidity method which utilizes a temperature dependent dynamic viscosity to model melting, flow, and subsequent solidification in all three spatial dimensions. This work includes a sophisticated finite element model that is validated with in-house experiments, as well as experimental determination of thermal conductivity of gas-atomized Inconel 718 powder particles. Through simulation and experimental findings a novel method of modeling the complete physics associated with powder bed additive manufacturing processes is presented.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)36-43
Number of pages8
JournalFinite Elements in Analysis and Design
Volume135
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Computational fluid dynamics
  • Finite element
  • Inconel 718
  • Laser melting
  • Powder bed
  • Transient thermal analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Analysis
  • General Engineering
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design
  • Applied Mathematics

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