Thermomechanical Finite Element Analysis of Direct Metal Deposition

Process

Mallikarjuna1, Prasad Krishna1, Srikanth Bontha1*

1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Karnataka,
Surathkal, Mangaluru 575 025, India.
*Email id: srikanth.bontha@nitk.edu.in

ABSTRACT
In Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) process, which is a powder fed technique, a 3-D
CAD model of the part to be fabricated is sliced into cross-sectional layers, and then a
laser is used to build up the layers to form the object. Further, in DMD process, during
deposition each layer undergoes a number of heating and cooling cycles which gives
rise to thermal stresses. Understanding the temperature evolution and stresses developed
during multiple layer deposition is necessary to improve part quality and produce
defect-free parts. The focus of the current study is to predict the temperature and stress
fields during DMD of TiAl alloy using a numerical modeling approach. Transient
thermomechanical finite element analysis is used to simulate the direct metal deposition
process for understanding the effect of process parameters on melt pool dimensions,
temperature distribution and magnitude and distribution of residual stresses. The
element activation and deactivation technique is used for modeling the multi-layer and
multi-track deposition of thin-wall and plate geometries by the DMD process. The
work is expected to provide a better insight on the thermal conditions during the
deposition of TiAl alloy using the DMD process.
Keywords: Direct Metal Deposition (DMD), TiAl alloy, Transient Thermomechanical
Analysis, Temperature Distribution, Residual Stress, Multi-layer, Multi-track