A comprehensive comparison of modeling strategies and simulation techniques applied in powder-based metallic additive manufacturing processes

Additive manufacturing processes have been attracting extensive attention and developing greatly in recent years. These processes have been widely studied by industrial and academic. The manufactured parts are printed layer upon layer according to a computer-aided design model, hence very complex geometries can be created. Moreover, a wide range of materials (plastic, ceramic, metallic, etc.) can be used. Additive manufacturing processes require continuous analyses to investigate their performances and produce high-quality parts with minimal defects. The experimental approach is often used to assess these thermomechanical processes. However, it remains limited because of the exorbitant cost due to the numerous parameters. On the other side, numerical simulation can be an alternative solution to facilitate the optimization of the process parameters and predict the final characteristics of the manufactured parts with a reasonable cost. In the literature, numerous numerical methods and techniques have been developed and applied to simulate Additive manufacturing processes, such as Finite Element Method, Finite Volume Method, Lattice Boltzmann Method, Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics, Discrete Phase Method, etc. Depending on the objectives, different simulation scales have been developed (part scale, melt pool scale, powder scale, etc.). In this context, the proposed paper intends to present an overview of these numerical methods in order to provide a comprehensive comparison and a deep analysis of advantages and drawbacks among the available methods. Some promising techniques and future tendencies are also presented.