Stress distribution in laser metal deposited multi-layer thick-walled parts of Ti-6Al-4V

Abstract

The laser metal deposition is an additive manufacturing technology enabling the production of large scale complex parts without additional treatment like welding or machining. The study of the origin of the stress field during laser metal deposition is essential for solving a number of problems, including: the assessment of cold and hot cracking; prediction of the fatigue resistance, and the stress corrosion cracking. The quantitative study of transient and residual stresses in build parts is necessary for optimising the parameters of processing and post-production stress relieving heat treatment. Residual stress field in laser metal deposited 50-layer (4-pass per layer) wall of Ti-6Al-4V was analysed experimentally using neutron diffraction and numerically using finite element simulation. Long dwell time between passes and a rigid substrate was used in order to simulate conditions of large scale parts fabrication. An analysis of the calculated and experimentally measured residual stress field showed that near the edges of the buildup there is a region where all three components of stress field are tensile, and normal stress exceeds the yield stress by more than 25%. Moreover, normal plastic strain in this area are also tensile and reaches 2.5-3%. The longitudinal tensile stress closes to yield stress on almost the entire length of the several last layers near the top of the buildup. Residual stress field calculated using neutron diffraction data according to interplanar lattice distance obtained assuming plane stress approach has a satisfactory agreement with FE simulated results.