Numerical simulation of thermal and stress field of single track cladding in wide-beam laser cladding

This research established half of the finite element model to investigate the thermal and stress field evolution of single track cladding deposited by the wide-beam laser. The proposed FE model is validated by the molten pool temperature measured by a pyrometer. And the characteristic of the cladding shows good agreement with the temperature profile. Based on the temperature data, the molten pool length, width, and depth are calculated. Meanwhile, the effect of process parameters including laser power and scanning speed on the molten pool dimensions, temperature gradient G, cooling rate ε, solidification rate R, and G/R are discussed. Three experiments under different process parameters are conducted to verify the simulation results. Furthermore, the thermal stress distribution of the cladding in different direction and different path are discussed. The results indicate that laser power and scanning speed have a significant influence on the thermal and stress field evolution.