Thermomechanical simulation of the selective laser melting proceb for PA12 including volumetric shrinkage

Abstract

The present contribution is concerned with the finite element simulation of the thermomechanical material behavior in the selective laser melting proceb for PA12. In the proceb shrinkage of the powder material is observed when becoming melt, as the porous character of the powder vanishes due to the phase transition. A nonlinear thermomechanical finite element model is developed, which captures the shrinkage of the material and includes temperature dependent material parameters. The model is used to simulate the shrinkage of the material in the proceb, where an adaptive mesh refinement is applied for increasing the accuracy of the simulation. The results are qualitatively compared with experimental data and show a good agreement.