Computational modelling of laser additive manufactured (LAM) Titanium alloy grade 5

Additive manufacturing technique has since become one of the more prominent manufacturing operations over the past years. The applications of this manufacturing technique are boundless as new process parameters of the operation affects the new structure of the components and provides different applications. This manufacturing process is the production of 3D metallic components by melting the raw material to produce that component. This is attained by the application of thermal energy on the raw material layer by layer until a solid component is formed, after cooling the product. The aim of this research study is to investigate the influence of temperature distribution and thermal stresses on the laser additive manufactured Titanium alloy grade 5. This was carried out using 3000 W continuous wave Ytterbium Laser System (YLS). The temperature distribution contour was investigated in this research and the influence of the optimal process parameters on the final coating geometry. The spot diameter and the distance between the base alloy and the laser nozzle influences the peak temperature distribution in the molten pool. The peak temperature at the start was 529 K while at the end of the base alloy it increased to 534 K. The crystal structures in the melt pool are changed by the rate of solidification. The 3D numerical investigation provided clarification and had substantial effects in the prediction of the overall resulting molten pool size and geometry size.