An Approach to Numerical Modeling of Selective Laser Melting

Technological parameters of selective laser melting determine the quality of the parts produced: porosity, residual stresses and so strength and plasticity. Numerical modeling can help understand this dependence. The modeling process must account for the fact that typical sizes of metal powder particles, used for selective laser melting, are comparable (near equal) to the diameter of the laser beam, so considering powder a continuum is not fully correct. It is shown that LS-DYNA finite element code has enough capability to model important features of the process – heat exchange, melting, contact interaction of the particles.