Grain size evolution under different cooling rate in laser additive manufacturing of superalloy

The processing parameters in laser additive manufacturing have a crucial impact on solidification microstructure especially grain size, thus influencing the properties of the final products. In this paper, experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of processing parameters including scanning speed, laser power and powder feeding rate on grain size of the solidified track during laser metal deposition. A three-dimensional model considering heat transfer, phase change and Marangoni convection flow had also been developed to simulate the solidification parameters especially cooling rate (G x R) to illustrate the underlying mechanisms. The experimental and simulated results indicated that cooling rate increased and grain size decreased from 8.7 mu m to 4.7 mu m with the increase of scanning speed from 2 mm/s to 10 mm/s. Contrarily, cooling rate decreased and grain size increased with the increase of laser power and powder feeding rate. The numerical and experimental results provide the additive manufacturing process with the potential of microstructure control and performance optimization.