Additive manufacturing of multi-material parts – Evaluating the potential of part-scale process simulations for predicting process parameter

Le résumé fourni par la source

Multi-material powder bed fusion of metals using a laser beam (PBF-LB/M) enables the deliberate integration of complementary material properties within a single component, offering a promising solution to conflicting design requirements such as the simultaneous need for high ductility and strength or the combination of conductive and insulating regions. However, ensuring process stability and quality in multi-material PBF-LB/M remains challenging due to material-specific process parameter demands and the high defect susceptibility at material interfaces. Numerical process simulation presents a promising strategy to address these challenges by accelerating process development and reducing reliance on time-consuming experimental studies. This work presents a part-scale, hatch-resolved thermal simulation model based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) adapted for PBF-LB/M process simulations. Owing to its locally defined formulation, LBM allows highly parallelizable computations, making it particularly efficient for GPU-based simulation. A case study on the material combination of 316L and CuCrZr is used to demonstrate the simulation approach. By varying process parameters, the simulation predicts maximum temperatures and porosity distributions within the fabricated parts, providing insights into the manufacturability and process optimization. The simulation results are validated against experimental data using light microscopy and porosity analysis. The calculated and measured porosities are qualitatively similar and show the comparable behavior to changing process parameters, while the predicted manufacturability captures the results of the physical process well, confirming the capability of the developed LBM-based framework. For the first time, a numerical solver is presented to support future process parameter selection in multi-material PBF-LB/M, advancing the process reliability and design flexibility for future multi-material applications.

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