Macroscopic Finite Element Thermal Modelling of Selective Laser Melting for IN718 Real Part Geometries

A 3D finite element model is developed to study heat exchange during the selective laser melting (SLM) process. The level set functions are used to track the interface between the constructed workpiece and non-melted powder, and interface between the gas domain and the successive powder bed layers In order to reach the simulation in macroscopic scale of real part geometries in a reasonable simulation time, the energy input and the formation of the additive deposit are simplified by considering them at the scale of an entire layer or fraction of each layer. The layer fractions are identified directly from a description (e.g. using G-code) of the global laser scan plan of the part construction. Each fraction is heated during a time interval corresponding to the exposure time to the laser beam, and then cooled down during a time interval equal to the scan time of the laser beam over the considered layer fraction. The global heat transfer through the part under additive construction and the powder material non-exposed to the laser beam is simulated. To reduce the computational cost, mesh-adaptation is adopted during the construction process. The proposed model is able to predict the temperature distribution and evolution in the constructed workpiece and non-melted powder during the SLM process at the macroscale, for parts made of complex geometry. Application is shown for a nickel based material (IN718), but the numerical model can be easily extended to other materials by using their data sets.