A Generalized Feed Forward Dynamic Adaptive Mesh Refinement and Derefinement Finite Element Framework for Metal Laser Sintering—Part I: Formulation and Algorithm Development

Abstract

A novel multiscale thermal analysis framework has been formulated to extract the physical interactions involved in localized spatiotemporal additive manufacturing processes such as the metal laser sintering. The method can be extrapolated to any other physical phenomenon involving localized spatiotemporal boundary conditions. The formulated framework, named feed forward dynamic adaptive mesh refinement and derefinement (FFD-AMRD), reduces the computational burden and temporal complexity needed to solve the many classes of problems. The current study is based on application of this framework to metals with temperature independent thermal properties processed using a moving laser heat source. The melt pool diameters computed in the present study were compared with melt pool dimensions measured using optical micrographs. The strategy developed in this study provides motivation for the extension of this simulation framework for future work on simulations of metals with temperature-dependent material properties during metal laser sintering.