Direct metal laser sintering of AlSi10Mg alloy parts: Modeling of temperature profile

Abstract

Laser powder bed fusion process is a frontier technology in the additive manufacturing sector for the printing of near net shape structure with design freedom. One of the key problems allied with this process is the temperature instability that occurs because of the moving laser beam. The temperature dissemination in the building layer becomes inhomogeneous and leads to stress generations. As a result, the engineering properties of the printed component worsen. The current study focused on the development of a mathematical model to examine the heat transfer behavior in the build layer during the printing of aluminum alloy parts in the laser powder bed fusion process. ANSYS 17.0 commercial software platform was used for the development of the model by considering aluminum alloy particles i.e., AlSi10Mg as the powder material. The developed model assists to understand the heat transfer mechanism and temperature distribution at different laser energy inputs, scan speed, and initial porosity present in the powder layer. From the numerically simulated model, it is established that laser energy input has a profound effect on the rise of temperature in the build layer and vice-versa with scan speed. The present simulation results will assist the manufacturers for the selection of appropriate experimental conditions for the printing of ideal components for the desired application.