Transient finite elements analysis of thin-walled structure in selective laser melting process

Abstract

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a complex process involving solid-liquid conversion of metals, heat conduction, thermal radiation and other processes. The warping deformation of the forming parts in the process of SLM is usually the main reason affecting the forming precision of the parts and restricting the development of SLM technology. It is necessary to be probed into the rules of SLM forming process. The thin-walled parts are especially prone to warping deformation because of the fast heating, heat dissipation and the uneven distribution of the temperature field. Therefore, in this paper, the transient finite element analysis of temperature field, stress field and warping deformation of simple thin-walled parts are carried out based on APDL language in ANSYS software. The relationship of temperature gradient, internal stress warping deformation is investigated firstly, Then the rules of influencing the forming accuracy of the parts is analyzed from the whole molding process. Finally, through the analysis of several different scanning molding methods, further studied the influence of the scanning path on the forming precision of the parts. And explored the method to improve the forming precision of the parts by optimizing the scanning path.