Modeling and Monitoring of the Effect of Scan Strategy on Microstructure in Additive Manufacturing

Laser powder bed fusion is an additive manufacturing process that uses a selective melting technique to build three-dimensional metal structures. This fabrication technique is useful for creating complex parts with fine resolution. However, the repeated scanning method used throughout the process results in complex thermal behavior, which introduces microstructural variations and defects in the final part. The semi-analytical model used in this work calculates the temperature distributions and thermal conditions in laser powder bed fusion to predict the microstructural variations. Additionally, an in situ process monitoring approach is used to verify the predicted influence of the processing parameters and scan strategy on the microstructure of the printed parts.