Thermal Fe Analysis of Powder Bed Fusion Process: Power Input Evaluation and Parameter Sensitivity

We investigated the thermal behavior of the powder bed fusion (PBF) manufacturing process. Specifically, a finite element thermal analysis procedure was developed to simulate selective laser melting, one of several PBF processes available on the market. The primary objective was to study how selected parameters of the PBF process affect temperature distributions, since a high temperature gradient and cooling rate are associated with residual stress and deformation in the built part. Since it was difficult to devise an analytical solution for this transient thermal problem, commercially available finite element analysis software, Abaqus, was employed. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken to analyze the impact of powder diameter, packing density, and substrate temperature on the overall temperature distributions. Finally, verification and validation were performed via experimental setup and data from the literature. The samples built were characterized by residual stress measurements, porosity, and relative density to further validate the model.