Sintering zone prediction in direct metal laser sintering by finite element method

来源期刊：中国有色金属学报(英文版)2005年第z3期

论文作者：沈显峰 王洋 杨家林 姚进 黄建峰

文章页码：283 - 290

Key words：direct metal laser sintering； finite element method； thermal model； numerical simulation； sintering zone prediction

Abstract: A three-dimensional finite element thermal model in direct metal laser sintering(DMLS) including the effect of powder-to-solid transition were established to predict sintering zone, which benefited the determination of suitable process parameters in DMLS. The nonlinear transient model of the metals thermal conductivity for powder-to-solid transition was developed. The model uses solid thermal properties of material in liquid-phase zone, transitional ones in sintering or sintered zone and powder ones in unsintered zones of powder bed to predict, respectively. Sintering zone boundary was estimated by maximum temperature history profile. Experiments were carried out using multi-component Cu-based metal powder. Compared experimental and predicted results, the mean error of sintering depth and width are 7.8% and 14.4%, respectively, which confirms the accuracy of the FEM prediction.