Effects of thermal cycling on residual stress in alloy parts via selective laser melting

Abstract

Contradictory interpretation of the parameter dependence of residual stress in alloy parts formed through selective laser melting (SLM) were found in existing research, which is thought to be clarified in the present article. Parametrical simulations and experiments were designed and conducted firstly to concentrate on the dominant significance of the typical thermal cycling in SLM. It has been proved both by the XRD, EBSD and TEM experiments that correlation between residual stress and energy density depends on the peculiar characteristic of thermal cycling. Furthermore, the microscopic characterization accompanied with simulations of computational fluid dynamics, computational thermo-elastic-plastic mechanics and molecular dynamics reveals the effects of typical thermal cycling on the patterns of residual stress.