Thermo-mechanical modelling for prediction of residual stresses in laser powder bed fusion fabricated Ti6Al4V components

Additive Manufacturing, mainly the LPBF process, can be used to fabricate valuable components for aerospace applications, including parts for Launch Vehicles. This would significantly reduce the number of parts in the assembly, time, and cost. However, the rapid heating and cooling cycles in an LPBF process result in residual stresses in the fabricated components, limiting their usage. To achieve dimensional accuracy and to prevent premature fatigue failure of components, it is essential to get a reasonable estimation of the residual stresses induced in the component. The development of Thermo-Mechanical models for their estimation is of utmost importance since numerous process variables influence the amount of residual stress created during the LPBF process, and experimental measurement of residual stresses is time-consuming and expensive. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the effect of preheating on the residual stresses using the developed Thermo-Mechanical model.