Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture http://pib.sagepub.

com/

Modelling of the Melt Pool Geometry in the Laser Deposition of Nickel Alloys Using the Anisotropic Enhanced Thermal Conductivity Approach
A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu and L Li Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture 2011 225: 87 DOI: 10.1177/09544054JEM2129 The online version of this article can be found at: http://pib.sagepub.com/content/225/1/87

Published by:
http://www.sagepublications.com

On behalf of:

Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Additional services and information for Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture can be found at: Email Alerts: http://pib.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Subscriptions: http://pib.sagepub.com/subscriptions Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Permissions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Citations: http://pib.sagepub.com/content/225/1/87.refs.html

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

SPECIAL ISSUE PAPER 87

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys using the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach
A M Kamara*, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li Laser Processing Research Centre, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK The manuscript was received on 21 April 2010 and was accepted after revision for publication on 14 September 2010. DOI: 10.1177/09544054JEM2129

Abstract: Use of appropriate modes of heat transfer in finite element modelling simulations of laser deposition is important for enhancing the reliability of the predicted results. An important contributory mode is melt pool convection, which is the focus of this work. Using the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach, this study examines the strategies relating to the choice of appropriate values for the thermal conductivity enhancement factors in the orthogonal axial directions x, y, and z. In order to investigate different combinations of values for these factors in the laser deposition of one track of Inconel 718 powder on an EN-43A mild steel substrate, finite element models were prepared and results from these were compared with the corresponding experimental results. The results of the study suggested that no thermal conductivity enhancement should be enforced in the direction of the depth of the sample. Thermal enhancement factors in the two orthogonal directions are required, but the factor in the direction parallel to the direction of beam scanning should be of greater magnitude. Analysis of the thermal gradients from the model also showed that failure to incorporate any allowance for the melt pool convection effect with appropriate choice of thermal conductivity enhancement factors in the finite element modelling of the laser deposition can result in overprediction of thermal stress, which can lead to undue threats of various forms of distortion during the deposition process. Keywords: melt pool, enhanced thermal conductivity, modelling, laser deposition, additive manufacture

1 INTRODUCTION Laser deposition technology has become an important part of modern industry for the rapid manufacture, repair, and surface modification of metallic components. As schematically illustrated in Fig. 1, the technology involves using a laser to create a highly localized melt pool on a metallic substrate and conveying powder into the pool. The absorbed energy increases the size of the pool, which undergoes rapid solidification and fuses on to the substrate
*Corresponding author: Laser Processing Research Centre, School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Sackville Street, Manchester M60 1QD, UK. email: a.kamara@manchester.ac.uk

surface when the laser moves to a new location along its path. Conveyance of the powder is typically via a lateral or coaxial inert gas stream although other nozzle types, such as the vibration nozzle used in this paper, are also available. By combining multiple tracks, parts can be produced on a layer-by-layer basis [1], which, for the manufacture of complex components, can be considerably more material efficient than subtractive manufacturing techniques and can also yield material properties superior to those of the wrought material [2]. Laser deposition is in competition with other major metal deposition techniques such as thermal spraying, welding, chemical vapour deposition, and physical vapour deposition. Toyserkani et al. [3] have provided a comparative discussion on several major issues relating to the advantages and disadvantages
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

88

A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li

Fig. 1 Schematic illustration of the laser deposition process

of these techniques for metallic and non-metallic deposition applications. The identified advantages of laser deposition are its effectiveness for creating a very strong claddingsubstrate bond with low dilution, the small heat-affected zone, and the relatively low levels of distortion produced in the substrate. A strong bond is of fundamental importance because, without its effective presence in any deposited build, other performance characteristics cannot be realized. For many additive techniques, including laser deposition, the generation of a melt pool during the process is inevitable and its precise control is important towards achieving the desired microstructure, composition, stress distribution, and final geometry. Monitoring the surface extent of the melt pool by techniques such as thermal imaging is common but it is not possible to extend this to measuring the full pool geometry, because so much of it is internal to the part. Sectioning of trial parts to examine the size of a melt pool is expensive, time consuming, and often impracticable in a production environment, especially with large or high-value parts or materials. Such impediments thus render modelling of the process an extremely important approach for achieving any degree of control and optimization. However, like most other processes involving melt generation and the consequent melt pool stirring effects, modelling of the laser deposition process is not straightforward, particularly in the context of implementing the correct modes of heat transfer. Chan et al. [4] reported that, in a melt pool, for instance, heat transfer is influenced more by fluid flow than by conduction and this has been supported by the work of Mills et al. [5]. It, thus, initially appeared that accurate modelling of temperature distribution and hence final part characteristics in a laser deposition process requires the use of detailed computational fluid dynamics models to simulate this melt pool convection. However, the use of these models, which rely on the
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

solutions of the irreducible NavierStokes equations, has certain drawbacks as pointed out by, for example, Eustathopoulos et al. [6]. Avoiding these drawbacks has, in a reasonable cross-section of research investigations, led to the use of conduction-based models involving the use of the isotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach [79]. More recently, the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach [10] was developed. In the reliance on solving the energy equation to predict the melt pool geometry and temperature distribution, both of these approaches require that, beyond the liquidus temperature Tl, the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity of the material is enhanced; this is assumed to modify the modelled temperature distribution in the same way that melt pool convection does in reality. Owing to reported inefficiency with the isotropic approach [10], the anisotropic approach has been considered in this work. The approach is based on a heat diffusion equation of the form       @ @T @ @T @ @T ax kx ay k y az kz F @x @x @y @y @z @z @HT 1 @t in which T is the instantaneous temperature and k is the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity, where, for a normal anisotropic material such as a metal, kx ky kz k. a is the enhancement factor on k, which is enforced at T > Tl. F is the heat source, t is the time, and the subscripts x, y, and z are defining parameters in the spatial directions x, y, and z respectively. H(T) is the temperature-dependent enthalpy, which accounts for the latent heat evolution arising from phase change effect during the process and is such that, for T 6 Ts, Z T Cp dT 2 HT r
T0

for Ts

T l, ZTs  Cp dT rLf
T0

HT r and for T > Tl, ZTs HT r

T0

T Ts Tl Ts

 3

Z Cp dT rLf r

Cp dT
Tl

where Ts is the solidus temperature, r is the density, Cp is the specific heat capacity, Lf is the latent heat of fusion, and T0 is the room temperature, which is assumed to be 20  C.

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys

89

In solving equation (1), the enhanced thermal conductivity approaches require that, for T 6 Tl, ax ay az 1 and, for T > Tl, ax > 1, ay > 1, and az > 1. Unlike the isotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach, which imposes the additional constraint that ax ay az, the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach offers the flexibility that, for T > Tl, the enhancement factors ax, ay, and az can be set independently. With this flexibility on the latter approach, making the appropriate choice of values for the enhancement factors is still subject to speculation. Evidence of the degree of uncertainty is to be found in the widely varying numerical values of thermal conductivity enhancement factors that have been chosen in previous studies of melt pool convection in welding and surface melting processes. The choice of factors, which are found to span the range 220 [1012], has always been based on trial and error and on comparison with known experimental results. For the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach to be considered as a more useful tool for incorporating melt pool convection into modelling melt pool geometry in laser deposition processes, a more generic method needs to be developed to support the appropriate choice of enhancement factors for any given set of process parameters such as the laser power, spot size, and scanning speed. Although this study is yet to consider the effect of these parameters, it serves at this stage to provide a guide to the choice of factors and, specifically, the relative magnitudes of enhancement required in directions parallel and perpendicular to the direction of motion. The general influence of the conductivity enhance-

ments on the modelled thermal gradients is also of interest because of its implications for residual stress and microstructure modelling.

2 EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAMME The experimental programme, which made use of the schematic layout of equipment in Fig. 2, was to validate the results of the devised finite element models. The equipment constituted a gas-free powder delivery head, a piezo amplifier, and an oscilloscope. The piezoelectric actuator was working at 1.7 kHz. Owing to the non-uniformity of the flow in the melt pool, three samples were manufactured under identical conditions for comparison. The samples were all made of Inconel 718 powder (of grain size 53150 mm), deposited by a high-power diode laser on to an EN-43A mild steel substrate of dimensions 50 mm 50 mm 10 mm. The deposition was achieved using a Laserline LDL1601500 diode laser, supplying a power of 1.5 kW. The laser beam was focused on a spot of dimensions 2.5 mm 3.5 mm, with the 3.5 mm side being normal to the direction of motion. Positioned on a computer numerically controlled moving table that was controlled by PAL-PC software, the substrate was moved at a speed of 4 mm/s. The powder was delivered from a vibration feeding nozzle at 0.064 g/s and at a feed angle of 45 to the vertical direction; the material deposition efficiency was near 100 per cent. The details of the powder feeding technique can be found in reference [13].

Fig. 2 A schematic representation of the equipment layout during the experimental process of the laser deposition of Inconel 718 on an EN-43A mild steel substrate
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

90

A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li

An illustration of the top view of the deposited build samples is shown in Fig. 3(a). Normal to the direction of motion, three sections, namely AA, BB, and CC, were considered at distances of about a quarter, half, and three-quarters respectively along the length on each sample, as shown in the figure. Illustrated in Fig. 3(b) is a view of the surface at the section BB on sample 1, which is identical with the surfaces at the other sections on all the samples. Each surface at the sections on the samples was ground, polished to 1 mm finish, and electrolytically etched with 10 per cent oxalic acid prior to examination using optical microscopy. Computerized frame capture and dimensioning software were used to obtain estimates for the build height hc, build width wc, melt pool depth dmp, and melt pool width wmp (which is equal to the build width) at the different sections. For the three samples, the estimated values, their means  x, and standard deviations s are presented in Table 1. The estimated values at section BB on sample 1 are shown in bold in the table. These were found to be closest to the calculated mean values and hence, were assumed to be the representative estimates for all samples. Identified with their errors from the other corresponding estimates, the measurements hc 0:770:04 mm, wc wmp 3:930:19 mm, and 0:05 0:39

dmp 0:470:04 mm together with their depiction in 0:06 Fig. 3(b) are hereafter referred to as the experimental sample and used to validate the results of the finite element models.

3 FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING Using the commercial software package, ANSYS 11.0 [14], the simulation considered a transient thermal analysis on a three-dimensional model of the geometry shown in Fig. 4(a). The geometry is a representation of the physical mapping of the component under investigation, which represents the experimental sample. It constitutes a single-track build (width, 3.93 mm; height, 0.77 mm) of Inconel 718 on a EN-43A mild steel substrate. As illustrated in Fig. 4(a) and the sections in Figs 4(b) and (c), the adopted coordinate system is such that the origin is located at the centre of the top surface of the substrate. Assuming that the build is well bonded onto the substrate, their interfacial interaction was modelled using the glue feature of the ANSYS Boolean operations [14]. The mesh of the geometry, representing its discretization into the elemental form, is shown in Fig. 4(a). To produce this mesh of thermal Solid70 elements with the well-graded pattern shown, it was generated with different densities. The build region, where fusion takes place and temperature gradients are expected to be most severe, was assigned the finest mesh and regions remote from the clad were assigned a relatively coarse mesh. The analysis simulated the temperature field arising from production of the build track described. For the combined build or substrate domain under consideration, this required a solution of equation (1), in which the heat source term is the supplied power from the laser beam. Owing to losses and the shallow depth of its absorption (typically, smaller than 100 nm for metals) this power was treated as a constant surface heat flux F of value F 1 Rs Ps Ab 5

Fig. 3 Depiction of the experimental sample: (a) top view; (b) sectional view through BB, showing details of the deposited build and the melt pool Table 1

Measured values for clad and melt pool details at the different sections on the manufactured experimental samples
Value (mm) for the following sample sections

Clad or melt pool parameter hc wc wmp dmp

Sample 1 AA 0.76 4.01 0.47 BB 0.77 3.93 0.47 CC 0.80 4.12 0.48

Sample 2 AA 0.74 3.67 0.42 BB 0.72 3.54 0.41 CC 0.78 3.77 0.43

Sample 3 AA 0.80 4.07 0.48 BB 0.79 3.82 0.51 CC 0.81 4.11 0.45  x 0.77 3.89 0.46 s 0.03 0.21 0.03

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys

91

Fig. 4 Geometry, mesh, and coordinate system used in the finite element modelling simulation

where Ps is that part of the energy from the laser beam available to melt the substrate, Rs is the surface reflectivity of the substrate material, which for the wavelength involved was measured to be in the range 0.420.45, and Ab is the cross-sectional area of the laser beam at the surface of the substrate. In equation (5), Ps P Pp, where P is the total power from the laser beam and Pp is the energy absorbed or reflected by the powder particles during flight across the laser beam. It is obvious that the temperature at which deposited powder particles enter into the melt pool depends on several factors, primarily the transport gas speed and the distance between the powder-supplying nozzle and the substrate (which dictates the time of particle flight under the laser beam and hence, the time of heating the particles). However, to simplify the model, an assumption was considered on the basis of theoretical results in a previous study [15], which indicated that the energy absorbed by the particles is sufficient for them to reach the liquidus temperature before entering the melt pool. This implies that _ hm Cp Ts T0 Lf Pp 6 1 Rp _ where m is the powder flowrate, h is the powder delivery efficiency, Ts is the solidus temperature, Cp is the specific heat of the powder material, and Rp is the surface reflectivity of the powder particles, which, as adopted from a previous study, is 0.33 [16]. Lf is the

latent heat of fusion of the powder material, which was taken to be 227 kJ/kg [17]. Simulation of the heat flux F from the moving laser beam was achieved using the ANSYS Parametric Design Language (APDL). This was such that, along the beams path of scanning, the flux is moved from a surface area Ab to the next and at a rate defined by the scanning speed. This movement of the laser beam is to provide the heat boundary condition at different positions at different times. Powder addition was modelled using the ANSYS embedded feature of element birth and death [14], which enables successive discrete additions of new elements to be made to the computational domain. Implementation of the technique required the region of the model representing the clad initially to be partitioned and meshed with the rest of the model. At the start of the simulation, the build elements were deactivated to simulate that no powder was yet deposited. As the simulation progressed, element sets within the group, representing successive deposited powder components, were reactivated to simulate material deposition; this was performed at a rate corresponding to the beam scanning speed. Such a time-dependent problem was solved sequentially, as a series of constant geometry problems (called steps), linked together by introducing the output of problem n as the initial condition for problem n 1. The initial condition of the substrate at the start of the first step is such that
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

92

A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li

T x; y; z; t 0 T0

where T0 is the room temperature, which is assumed to be 20  C, and all other parameters and symbols have their previous definitions. Following the theoretical results in reference [15], which justify that the energy absorbed by powder particles during flight across the laser beam is sufficient for them to reach the liquidus temperature before entering the melt pool, the initial condition of a currently activated powder component was considered to be T x; y; z; ta Tl 8

where ta represents the time at activation of the elements of a deposited powder component and all other symbols maintain their previous meanings. Owing to the inevitable phenomena of melt generation and resolidification, which are associated with the laser cladding process, solutions to modelling simulation problems with the process are often path dependent and thus require the use of temTable 2 Thermal material properties of Inconel 718 as used in the finite element modelling simulation [17, 18]
Enthalpy H 109 (J/m3) 0.044 0.66 1.44 2.65 3.65 4.62 5.23 7.34 8.0 8.36 9.9 Thermal conductivity k (W/m  C) 11.4 14.4 17.9 22.2 25.7 29.0 31.1 26.8 28.2 29.4 33.5

perature-dependent material properties in their analysis. In that respect, the specific properties used in the current analysis were thermal conductivity k(T) and enthalpy H(T). The numerical values of these material properties as adopted from the literature [1719] and used in the analysis are included in Tables 2 and 3. The boundary conditions defining the modes of heat transfer and constraints on parts of the system are such that all heat losses due to radiation were assumed insignificant. Those heat losses by free convection were modelled using Newtons cooling law, and this was such that all surfaces exposed to the environment were subjected to a convective effect with a heat transfer coefficient ha 20 W/m2  C to ambient air at the assumed room temperature T0. Of course, the focus of this study, namely compensation for the convection effect in the generated melt pool, was considered using the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach. Table 4 shows a representative sample of the combinations of different enhancement factors ax, ay, and az, which were tested. Each gave a different temperature distribution and hence, melt pool profile, which were respectively compared with the details in Fig. 3(b) for the experimental sample.

Temperature Density r (kg/m3) T (oC) 20 227 427 727 927 1127 1260* 1344y 1450 1527 1827 8220 8121 8048 7961 7875 7787 7733 7579 7488 7488 7341

4 RESULTS Figure 5 shows plots of the melt pool profiles modelled using the different combinations of thermal conductivity enhancement factors shown in Table 4. The profiles have been superimposed onto the micrograph of the cross-section through the experimental sample for comparison. Model 10501 is seen to have a melt pool profile that is the closest match to that of the experimental sample. Quantitative estimates of model performance, in terms of a comparison of the modelled and measured sizes of the melt pool, were achieved through temperature distribution plots recorded at the instant when the laser had travelled halfway along its path of scanning. Such a plot, taken on the section along the x-axis normal to the direction of beam scanning, is shown in Fig. 6(a). With the liquidus line LL superimposed onto this plot, regions above the melting temperature, which represent the melt pool, are identified. The length of the molten region along the x-axis defines the width of a melt pool, whose predictions for the different models are shown in Fig. 6 (b). In Figs 7(a), a similar plot of temperature distribution along the negative z-axis, which runs through the thickness of the substrate, is shown. As predicted from this figure, the depths of the melt pools for the different models are shown in Fig. 7(b). Using the results in Figs 6(b) and 7(b), the accuracies

*Solidus temperature. yLiquidus temperature.

Table 3

Thermal material properties of EN-43A mild steel as used in the finite element modelling simulation [19]
Enthalpy H 109 (J/m3) 0 3.44 29.2 7383 7333 7139 7083 7015 7015 7015 4.55 5.95 7.27 8.85 10.7 11.8 30.0 30.3 33.0 Thermal conductivity k (W/m  C) 53.8 46.2

Temperature Density r (kg/m3) T (oC) 20 350 645 801 855 937 1250* 1342 1450y 1800 2000 7900 7514

*Solidus temperature. yLiquidus temperature. Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys

93

of the respective models, in terms of the percentage difference between the predicted dimensions and the experimental dimensions, are given in Table 5. In support of the results in Fig. 6, which show that this model has the melt pool profile with the best match to the experimental sample, both Figs 7 and 8
Table 4 Models representing combinations of the enhancement factors of the spatial anisotropic thermal conductivity studied in the modelling simulation
Enhancement factors Model reference 111* 511 151 115 555y 5251 10501 ax 1 5 1 1 5 5 10 ay 1 1 5 1 5 25 50 az 1 1 1 5 5 1 1

show the model to have the closest match in melt pool depth and width. However, the prediction is not perfect; the overprediction in width is approximately 6 per cent and the underprediction in depth is approximately 8 per cent, as indicated in Table 5.

5 DISCUSSION Compared with the results of model 111, which represents a normal conductivity (unenhanced) problem, an interesting point to deduce from the results of the different models in Figs 6 and 7 is that, irrespective of the magnitudes of the enhancement factors ax, ay, and az relative to each other, use of the enhanced thermal conductivity approach in modelling laser cladding has a peak temperature reduction effect. Also, depending on the magnitudes of the factors relative to each other, there can be an increase in either the melt pool width or the melt pool depth; the other dimension is then decreased. Only in the case of model 55-5 was there little or no change in

*Normal (unenhanced) conductivity. yIsotropic enhancement.

Fig. 5 Respective pictorial comparison of the melt pool shapes and sizes of the experimental sample with those resulting from the models representing the different combinations of the anisotropic thermal conductivity enhancement factors ax, ay, and az
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

94

A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li

Fig. 6 (a) Temperature profiles along the x-axis; (b) extracted melt pool widths compared with the width of the experimental sample for models using the different combinations of anisotropic thermal conductivity enhancement factors in Table 3

the shape of the melt pool compared with that of model 111 (Fig. 5). As the enhancement factors involved in model 555 are defined by the condition ax ay az > 1, which characterizes isotropic enhancement, this confirms reports made in previous studies [1012] regarding the limitation of isoProc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

tropic enhancement for modelling the melt pool shape modifications owing to the flow effects that have been reported in deposition and welding [5]. The predicted results for model 10501 were found to have the closest match to the experimentally measured results. This indicated the choice of the

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys

95

4500 4000 3500 3000

1-1-1 5-1-1 1-5-1 1-1-5 5-5-5 5-25-1 10-50-1

Temperature (oC)

2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 -4 -3 -2 -1 0

dmp

Melt pool depth (mm), measured from substrate surface along the z-axis

(a)
2.0 1.6

Melt pool depth (mm)

1.2 0.8

0.4 0.0 Expt. 1-1-1 5-1-1 1-5-1 1-1-5 5-5-5 5-25-1 10-50-1

Sample/Model

(b)
Fig. 7 (a) Temperature profiles along the z-axis; (b) extracted melt pool depths compared with the width of the experimental sample for models using the different combinations of anisotropic thermal conductivity enhancement factors in Table 3

factors ax 10, ay 50, and az 1 as appropriate for use with the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach in modelling the melt pool convection effect during laser cladding and deposition of Inconel 718 powder on a mild steel substrate. The fact that the magnitudes of these factors can vary can arguably be justified by considering the behaviour of

mass flow in the generated melt as influenced by the Marangoni effect and hence, surface tension gradients. For most metals and in the absence of any surfactants the surface tensiontemperature coefficient is negative and hence, gives rise to a melt pool flow of predominantly outward pattern at the surface. Although patterns can, in some cases, be complex
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

96

A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li

Table 5

Predicted melt pool widths and depths from the different models and their respective deviations (percentage errors) from the corresponding dimensions for the experimental sample
Width (mm) Depth (mm) Experimental sample 3:930:19 0:39 Error (%) 0.13 0.30 0.07 0.03 0.12 0.13 0.06 Predicted 1.28 1.05 1.03 1.71 1.28 0.75 0.43 Experimental sample
0:04 0:470:06

Model reference 111 511 151 115 555 5251 10501*

Predicted 4.54 5.60 4.21 4.06 4.46 4.54 4.19

Error (%) 1.72 1.24 1.19 2.64 1.72 0.60 0.08

*The model with the melt pool shape and size of best match to that of the experimental sample.

and vary with beam mode [20], most studies of melt pool dynamics have concurred on these flow patterns [2022] in which the mass movement carries heat away from the centre of the melt pool. Speculating, then, that mass flow within the pool circulates mainly on the surface implies that a corresponding heat transfer effect occurs at this location. There is therefore little effect of heat transfer in the direction of the melt pool depth. Any enhancement in the thermal conductivity in this direction, which will have a corresponding effect to heat transfer, is inappropriate. It therefore implies that no thermal conductivity enhancement should be enforced in this direction, hence justifying the choice made in the current study for the factor az 1. The speculation that surface circulation is the main pattern of melt flow in a melt pool implies that heat transfer enhancement occurs only in the horizontal direction, where the flow is actually conveying heat more realistically and simulates what is happening in practice. However, the severity of this enforcement at the surface is speculated in the direction of beam scanning and deposition. This could be based, among other factors, on the severity of the thermal gradients in this direction, which have been reported in various previous studies [2326] to be much higher than in the direction normal to it. The eminent corresponding dominance in heat transfer in this direction justifies the choice of a relatively higher thermal conductivity enhancement factor in this direction than in its normal direction (i.e. ay wax, where w > 1). The purpose of adopting any form of thermal conductivity enhancement approach in modelling the laser cladding processes is to account for the influence of mass flow effects in the melt pool. The role that this plays in determining the residual stresses is also of interest. Since high thermal gradients are identified as among the major drivers of residual stress in metal deposition processes in general [2326], the current work included a comparative study of this parameter for the different models relative to model 111. In each model, the thermal
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

gradients were recorded at the origin of the global coordinate system over the entire deposition period. The choice of this location is based on the fact that it is on the buildsubstrate interface where deposition failures often originate owing to the high magnitudes of stress. Results of the thermal gradients in the x, y, and z directions are shown in Fig. 8. Compared with the thermal gradients predicted by model 111, the thermal gradients predicted by the other models are generally of lower magnitudes. This indicates that ignoring the effect of melt pool convection when modelling laser deposition can lead to overprediction of thermal gradients and potentially of residual stress. Another important observation from the results of the thermal gradients is their magnitudes, which are found for all the models to be highest in the y direction (i.e. the direction of beam scanning and deposition). To comment on this observation towards residual stress, the importance of the cooling phase in this time-dependent problem needs to be emphasized. Ignoring it in the simulation will result in inhomogeneous temperatures and, consequently, inhomogeneous thermal expansion (or contraction) by which thermal stresses are generated. Through cooling to room temperature, the inhomogeneous temperatures are removed and the elastic thermal stresses will disappear, leaving behind the residual stress. With this in mind, the observed magnitudes of the thermal gradients in Fig. 8 demonstrate that the enhancement of thermal conductivity has little effect on residual stress but rather, has an effect on the thermal stress. The observation of the magnitudes of the thermal gradients in Fig. 8 suggests that the thermal stress in the deposited build has its highest magnitude in the y-direction. Depending on its magnitude, various forms of distortion could occur during deposition, and, with tensile stress, this can typically lead to cracking or, alternatively, with compressive or tensile stresses, bond failure can occur through interfacial shear [2326]. Also observed from the results of the thermal gradients in the x- and ydirections is their change in sign during the process. For all the thermal conductivity enhancement factor

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys

97

combinations, these thermal gradients include both negative values and positive values, as can be seen in Figs 8(a) and (b) respectively. However, for the thermal gradient in the z-direction, such behaviour is observed only with models 555, 5251, and 10501, while the other models resulted in only positive values. While this observation is yet to be explained, the results as portrayed in Fig. 8(c) are such that, for no enhancement in thermal conductivity or for an enhancement enforced in one direction only, there is no negative thermal gradient effect in the z-direction.

6 CONCLUSIONS The investigation has revealed the importance of allowing for all significant modes of heat transfer during finite element modelling of processes involving melt generation and resolidification. Specifically, the need to take into account the effect of convection in the generated melt pool during finite element modelling of the laser deposition processes has been revealed. Unlike the isotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach, which causes little or no change in the shape of the melt pool, the anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach with appropriate thermal conductivity enhancement factors can result in a model that predicts a melt pool shape and size in accordance with experimental results. As a strategy towards making such an appropriate choice of factors, the study has suggested the following. 1. There is no enhancement in the z-direction (i.e. the direction of the depth of the sample), indicating that the thermal conductivity enhancement factor az 1. 2. In the y-direction (i.e. the direction of beam scanning and clad deposition) and the x-direction (i.e. the direction normal to that of beam scanning), conductivity enhancement is such that ax > 1 and ay wax, where w > 1. In the current study, ax 10 and w 5 yielded the best results, but these values may be different for different materials, especially those with unusual intra-pool flow patterns, caused by, for example, high or low levels of surface activants.

Fig. 8 Comparison of the thermal gradients over time for the different anisotropic thermal conductivity enhancement factor models: (a) normal to beam scanning, x; (b) parallel to beam scanning, y; (c) parallel to the depth of the substrate, z

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the European Union in the FANTASIA Project, Contract 030855 (ASTS-CT-2006-030855).
Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

98

A M Kamara, W Wang, S Marimuthu, and L Li

Authors 2011 REFERENCES

1 Griffith, M. L., Puskar, J. D., Robino, C. V., Brooks, J. A., Philliber, J. A., Smugeresky, J. E., and Hofmeister, W. H. Understanding the microstructure and properties of components fabricated by laser engineered net shaping (LENS). In Proceedings of the Solid Freeform and Additive Fabrication Conference, San Francisco, California, USA, 2326 April 2000, pp. 920 (Materials Research Society, Warrendale, Pennsylvania). 2 Pinkerton, A. J., Karadge, M., Syed, W. U. H., and Li, L. Thermal and microstructural aspects of the laser direct metal deposition of waspaloy. J. Laser Applic., 2006, 18(3), 216226. 3 Toyserkani, E., Khajepour, A., and Corbin, S. Laser cladding, 2000, ch. 2 (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida). 4 Chan, C., Mazumder, J., and Chen, M. M. Axissymmetry model for convection in a laser melted pool. In Proceedings of the Laser Processing of Materials Symposium at the 113th AIME Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California, USA, February 1985, pp. 316 (AIME, New York). 5 Mills, K. C., Keene, B. J., Brookes, R. F., and Shirali, A. Marangoni effects in welding. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A, 1998, 356, 911925. 6 Eustathopoulos, N., Dervet, B., and Ricci, E. Temperature coefficient of surface tension for pure liquid metals. J. Crystal Growth, 1998, 191(12), 268274. 7 Toyserkani, E., Khajepour, A., and Corbin, S. 3-D finite element modelling of laser cladding by powder injection: effects of pulse shaping on the process. Optics Lasers Engng, 2004, 41, 849867. 8 Zhang, W., Kim, C. H., and DebRoy, T. Heat and fluid flow in complex joints during gas metal arc welding, Part II: application to fillet welding of mild steel. J. Appl. Phys., 2004, 95, 52205229. 9 Kim, C. H., Zhang, W., and DebRoy, T. Modelling of temperature and solidification surface profile during gasmetal arc fillet welding. J. Appl. Phys., 2003, 94, 26672679. 10 Safdar, S., Pinkerton, A. J., Moat, R., Li, L., Sheikh, M. A., Preuss, M., and Withers, P. J. An anisotropic enhanced thermal conductivity approach for modelling laser melt pools. In Proceedings of the 26th International Congress on Applications of Lasers and Electrooptics (ICALEO 2007), Orlando, Florida, USA, 29 October1 November 2007, CD, paper 1305 (Laser Institute of America, Orlando, Florida). 11 Lindgren, L. Finite element modelling and simulation of welding, Part 2: improved material modelling. J. Thermal Stresses, 2001, 24, 195231. 12 Andersson, B. A. B. Thermal stresses in a submergedarc welded joint considering phase transformation. Trans. ASME, J. Engng Mater. Technol., 1978, 100, 356 362. 13 Wang, W., Pinkerton, A., and Li, L. A gas-free powder delivery system for 100% deposition efficiency in direct 14 15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

laser deposition. In Proceedings of the 27th International Congress on Applications of Lasers and ElectroOptics (ICALEO 2008), Temecula, California, USA, 2023 October, 2008 (Laser Institute of America, Orlando, Florida) CD, paper 801, pp. 415423. ANSYS 11.0, 2007 (ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, Pennsylvania). Neto, O. O. D. and Vilar, R. Physicalcomputational model to describe the interaction between a laser beam and a powder jet in laser surface processing. J. Laser Applic., 2002, 14(1), 4651. Pinkerton, A. J., Kamara, A. M., Shah, K., Safdar, S., and Li, L. Three dimensional analytical and finite element methods for simulating a moving melt pool with mass addition. In Proceedings of the Third Pacific International Conference on Applications of Lasers and Optics (PICALO 2008), Beijing, Peoples Republic of China, 1618 April 2008, CD, paper 806 (Laser Institute of America, Orlando, Florida). Luo, X., Shinozaki, K., Yoshihara, S., Kuroki, H., Okumoto, Y., and Shirai, M. Analysis on distribution of temperature and elevated temperature plastic strain at HAZ of laser weldment A study on laser weldability of Ni-base superalloys (Report 5). Quarterly Journal of the Japan Welding Society, 2001, 19(3), 556563. Pottlach, G., Hosaeus, H., Kaschnitz, E., and Seifter, A. Thermophysical properties of solid and liquid Inconel 718 alloy. Scand. J. Metall., 2002, 31, 161168. Mughal, M. P., Fawad, H., and Mufti, R. A. Threedimensional finite-element modelling of deformation in weld-based rapid prototyping. Proc. IMechE, Part C: J. Mechanical Engineering Science, 2006, 220(6), 875885. DOI: 10.1243/09544062JMES164. Han, L. and Liou, F. W. Numerical investigation of the influence of laser beam mode on melt pool. Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 2004, 47(1920), 43854402. Heiple, C. R. and Roper, J. R. Mechanism for minor element effect on GTA fusion zone geometry. Weld. J., 1982, 61(4), 97102. Ravindran, K., Srinivasan, J., and Marathe, A. G. Finite element solution of surface-tension driven flows in laser surface-melting. Mech. Res. Commun., 1995, 22(3), 297 304. Kamara, A. M. and Davey, K. A numerical and experimental investigation into residual stress in thermally sprayed coatings. Int. J. Solids Structs, 2007, 44, 8532 8555. Finnie, S., Cheng, W., Finnie, I., Drezet, J. M., and Gremaud, M. The computation and measurement of residual stresses in laser deposited layers. Trans. ASME, J., Engng Mater. Technol., 2003, 125(3), 302308. Kamara, A. M. and Davey, K. Simplified models for residual stress prediction in thermally sprayed coatings. Proc. IMechE, Part C: J. Mechanical Engineering Science, 2008, 222(6), 20532068. DOI: 10.1243/ 09544062JMES979. Noyan, I. C. Defining residual stress in thin structures. Adv. X-ray Analysis, 1992, 35A, 461473.

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011

Modelling of the melt pool geometry in the laser deposition of nickel alloys

99

APPENDIX Notation Ab Cp dmp F ha hc H k Lf _ m P Pp cross-sectional area of the laser beam (m2) specific heat capacity (kJ/kg  C) melt pool depth (mm) surface heat flux (W/m2) heat transfer coefficient to ambient air (W/m2  C ) clad build height (mm) enthalpy (J/m3) thermal conductivity (W/m  C ) latent heat of fusion of powder material (kJ/kg) powder flowrate (g/s) total power from laser beam (W) energy absorbed or reflected by the powder particles during flight across the laser beam (W) part of the energy from the laser beam available to melt the substrate (W) surface reflectivity of powder material

Rs t ta T Tl Ts T0 wc wmp x  x

y z a h r s

surface reflectivity of substrate material time (s) time at activation of elements of a deposited powder component (s) instantaneous temperature (  C) liquidus temperature (  C) solidus temperature (  C) room temperature (  C) clad build width (mm) melt pool width (mm) spatial x-direction mean of parameters at the corresponding sections on the clad buildmelt pool samples (mm) spatial y-direction spatial z-direction thermal conductivity enhancement factor powder delivery efficiency density (kg/m3) standard deviation of parameters at corresponding sections on clad buildmelt pool samples (mm)

Ps Rp

Proc. IMechE Vol. 225 Part B: J. Engineering Manufacture

Downloaded from pib.sagepub.com at IMECHE on August 22, 2011