Simulation of Stress Field during the Selective Laser Melting Process of the Nickel-Based Superalloy, GH4169

In this paper, GH4169 alloy’s distributions of temperature and stress during the selective laser melting (SLM) process were studied. The SLM process is a dynamic process of rapid melting and solidification, and we found there were larger temperature gradients near the turning of scan direction and at the overlap of the scanning line, which produced thermal strain and stress concentration and gave rise to warping deformations. The stresses increased as the distance became further away from the melt pool. There was tensile stress in the most-forming zones, but compressive stress occurred near the melt pool area. When the parts were cooled to room temperature after the SLM process, tensile stress was concentrated around the parts’ boundaries. Residual stress along the z direction caused the warping deformations, and although there was tensile stress in the parts’ surfaces, but there was compressive stress near the substrate.