Prediction and validation of melt pool dimensions and geometric distortions of additively manufactured AlSi10Mg

A finite element–based thermomechanical modeling approach is developed in this study to provide a prediction of the mesoscale melt pool behavior and part-scale properties for AlSi10Mg alloy. On the mesoscale, the widely adopted Goldak heat source model is used to predict melt pool formed by laser during powder bed fusion process. This requires the determination of certain parameters as they control temperature distribution and, hence, melt pool boundaries. A systematic parametric approach is proposed to determine parameters, i.e., absorption coefficient and transient temperature evolution. The simulation results are compared in terms of morphology of melt pool with the literature results. Considering the part-scale domain, there is increasing demand for predicting geometric distortions and analyzing underlying residual stresses, which are highly influenced by the mesh size and initial temperature setup. This study aims to propose a strategy for evaluating the correlation between the mesh size and the initial temperature to provide correct residual stresses when increasing the scale of the model for efficiency. The outcomes revealed that the predicted melt pool error produced by optimal Goldak function parameters is between 5 and 12%. On the part-scale, the finite element model is less sensitive to mesh size for distortion prediction, and layer-lumping can be used to increase the speed of simulation. The effect of large time increments and layer lumping can be compensated by appropriate initial temperature value for AlSi10Mg. The study aids practitioners and researchers to establish and validate design for additive manufacturing within the scope of desired part quality metrics.