Analysis of the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process through experimental measurement and finite element modeling

The objective in this work is to provide rigourous experimental measurements to aid in the development of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM). A specialized enclosed instrumented measurement system is designed to provide in situ experimental measurements of temperature and distortion. Experiments include comparisons of process parameters, materials and LPBF machines. In situ measurements of distortion and temperature made throughout the build process highlight inter-layer distortion effects previously undocumented for laser powder bed fusion. Results from these experiments are also be implemented in the development and validation of finite element models of the powder bed build process.;Experimental analysis is extended from small-scale to larger part-scale builds where experimental post-build measurements are used in analysis of distortion profiles. Experimental results provided from this study are utilized in the validation of a finite element model capable of simulating production scale parts. The validated finite element model is then implemented in the analysis of the part to provide information regarding the distortion evolution process. A combination of experimental measurements and simulation results are used to identify the mechanism that results in the measured distortion profile for this geometry.;Optimization of support structure primarily focuses on the minimization of material use and scan time, but no information regarding failure criteria for support structure is available. Tensile test samples of LPBF built support structure are designed, built, and tested to provide measurements of mechanical properties of the support structure. Experimental tests show that LPBF built support structure has only 30-40% of the ultimate tensile strength of solid material built in the same machine. Experimental measurement of LPBF built support structure provides clear failure criteria to be utilized in the future design and implementation of support structure.