Laser Additive Melting and Solidification of Inconel 718: Finite Element Simulation and Experiment

The field of powdered metal additive manufacturing is experiencing a surge in public interest finding uses in aerospace, defense, and biomedical industries. The relative youth of the technology coupled with public interest makes the field a vibrant research topic. The authors have expanded upon previously published finite element models used to analyze the processing of novel engineering materials through the use of laser- and electron beam-based additive manufacturing. In this work, the authors present a model for simulating fabrication of Inconel 718 using laser melting processes. Thermal transport phenomena and melt pool geometries are discussed and validation against experimental findings is presented. After comparing experimental and simulation results, the authors present two correction correlations to transform the modeling results into meaningful predictions of actual laser melting melt pool geometries in Inconel 718.