Spatial Variation of Thermokinetics and Associated Microstructural Evolution in Laser Surface Engineered IN718: Precursor to Additive Manufacturing

The spatial variation of thermokinetic parameters has a significant influence on solidification and microstructural aspects such as grain orientation, types and dimensions of the microstructural features, and crystallographic defects. In laser-based additive manufacturing, these factors are mainly dependent on the process parameters and have a wide implication on the microstructural aspects and, in turn, on the mechanical properties. In view of this, the current study focuses on the spatial variation on thermokinetic parameters such as cooling rate, thermal gradient (G), and solidification velocity (R) within the melt pool formed during laser processing of IN718. The continuous-wave Nd-YAG laser was employed at a laser fluence of 14.85, 19.10, and \(23.34\text { J/mm}^2\) with varying power (700, 900, 1100 W) at a constant scanning speed of 100 mm/s. The finite element method-based multiphysics heat transfer model, coupled with the dynamic fluid flow, was developed to predict these parameters. The model was correlated with microstructural aspects such as melt pool dimensions, orientation of columnar grains, and secondary dendritic arm spacing. The cumulative diffusion length of Nb obtained via thermo-diffusion calculation during multiple heating/cooling cycles was enough to dissolve the fine intragranular plate-shaped \(\delta \) precipitates in the heat-affected zone.The spatial variation of the G/R ratio recognized the transition of columnar to equiaxed solidification grains which was associated with the G/R ratio lower than \(10 \text {K s/mm}^2\) in the top region (\(\sim 25 \mu \text {m}\)) of the melt pool. In addition, the coupled solid mechanics model predicted the evolution of thermal stresses during solidification of the melt pool under a high thermal gradient, which marked the generation of high dislocation density in the solidified melt pool.