Analytical modeling of temperature distribution in laser powder bed fusion with different scan strategies

This study proposes an analytical model to predict the transient temperature distribution and melt pool size in laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process with different scan strategies. The scan strategies are divided into discontinuous scan path and continuous scan path. The moving Gaussian surface heat source solution and the instantaneous Gaussian surface heat source transient solution are applied for these two different scan strategies. The residual temperature linear superposition is adopted to consider the multi-track effect on the temperature distribution. The virtual negative power heat source method is utilized to consider the heat diffusion for the tracks that has been scanned of the build part. The image heat source method is used to consider the zero-flux boundary condition at the lateral surface of the build part. The proposed model is validated by the experimental data of the melt pool in single-track LPBF process. The analytical models of these two different scan strategies are verified by the comparison of the melt pool size. Based on the validated analytical model, it is extended for the multiple scan strategies combination processes. The temperature and melt pool predicted by the analytical model show good consistency with the FEM results. The analytical model method is much more efficient than FEM, which is about 120 times faster than FEM for the calculation of round-corner part. Due to the satisfied efficiency and accuracy in the prediction of melt pool size and the thermal history, the proposed analytical model has great potential application in optimization of the scan path planning and avoidance of the undesired residual temperature accumulation in the part.