The Simulation of Thermal Histories for Laser-Based Additive Manufacturing Using FLOW-3D
Open Access
- Author:
- Fink, Wyatt
- Area of Honors:
- Engineering Science
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Christopher Kube, Thesis Supervisor
Christopher Kube, Thesis Honors Advisor
Edward William Reutzel, Faculty Reader - Keywords:
- Additive Manufacturing
EHLA
FLOW-3D
AM - Abstract:
- Laser-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) has become a valuable tool which can produce versatile parts. The capability of AM to replace or repair parts without retooling time or costs is industry changing. There are many variables that guide AM processes due to the diversity in materials and geometry, with each combination needing compatible input parameters making many ways to process a part. Simulation with FLOW-3D, a computational fluid dynamic software package, facilitates prediction of how different process parameters can interact with specific geometries and materials. Simulating three laser-based processes with FLOW-3D can predict how different process parameters affect the deposited material. Process selection is guided by these parameters which affect end part quality and properties. Processes such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF), Directed Energy Deposition (DED), and Extreme High-speed Laser Application (EHLA) are typically too different to compare because they occur at different scales and different rates. They each fill a different niche in industry based on their quality and capabilities. FLOW-3D can predict a thermal history for each of these processes through modeling heat transfer and fluid flow to determine heating and cooling, without expensive physical experiments. FLOW-3D can simulate these processes instead of current experimental setups which would be time consuming, expensive, or simply impossible. Simulations of each process reveal that Extreme High-speed Laser Application has a cooling rate which promotes a more equiaxed structure with a grain size between LPBF and DED. The melt pool geometry of EHLA has a low depth-to-width ratio and an elongated melt pool which supports distinct microstructure formation from either LPBF or DED and may have advantageous properties in addition to the faster deposition rate.