Simulating the Microstructural Evolution of a Selective Laser Melted AA-2024

A two-dimensional Cellular Automata (CA) – Finite Element (FE) (CA-FE) coupled model has been developed in order to predict the microstructure formed during melting of a powdered AA-2024 feedstock using the Additive Manufacturing (AM) process Selective Laser Melting (SLM). The presented CA model is coupled with a detailed thermal FE model computing heat flow characteristics of the SLM process. The developed model takes into account the powder-to-liquid-to-solid transformation, tracks the interaction between several melt pools within a melted track, and several tracks within various layers. It was found that the simulated microstructures bared a close resemblance with fabricated AA-2024 SLM samples. With these observed capabilities of the model, the porosity within a SLM produced part can be predicted, and used to optimise the fabrication parameters of a sample.Mechanical Engineerin