The powder bed fusion tool, Simcenter 3D Additive Manufacturing, unlocks new advanced modeling capabilities

By Tom van Eekelen and Jonathan Melvin

As the additive manufacturing industry and powder bed fusion continue to evolve, engineers are challenged to accurately predict and compensate for distortions and deformations in metal 3D-printed parts. These issues, caused by residual stresses during the laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) printing process, have long been a thorn in the side of manufacturers.

The latest release of Simcenter 3D Additive Manufacturing addresses this challenge head-on with significant advancements to the software’s voxel mesh capabilities. By introducing two key improvements, Simcenter 3D is empowering engineers to more accurately simulate and compensate for the complex deformation behaviors inherent to metal additive manufacturing.

laser powder bed fusion part on build plate with variable mesh

Simcenter 3D Additive Manufacture powder bed fusion test part with displacement due to internal strains generated while cooling.

Improvements to powder bed fusion simulation

The first advancement is an enhanced inherent shrinkage method that accounts for both the deformation during printing process and the cooling down phase. This two-step simulation process remains grounded in the classical approach of using calibration prints. The addition of a thermal analysis only adds 10% to the overall calculation time, making this a highly efficient and practical solution. This holistic approach allows for more precise modeling of the full deformation cycle, going beyond the limitations of the previous standard inherent strain simulation.

Secondly, Simcenter 3D now enables the simulation of flexible build plates and a user defined order of part removal steps, including stress-relief heat treatment. These factors can have a significant impact on the final deformation of the printed part, and being able to account for them in the simulation provides engineers with a more comprehensive understanding of the process.

More new features

But the benefits don’t stop there. Simcenter 3D also introduces the ability to re-use existing deformation results to compensate parts that have undergone small design changes after the initial simulation has been performed. This streamlines the iterative design process, saving valuable time and resources.

For additive manufacturing to reach its full potential, the simulation process needs to be straightforward and robust. In the past, this has often required specialized expertise to optimize the finite element solver settings. Siemens has addressed this challenge head-on in the latest release of Simcenter 3D Additive Manufacture. The simulation workflow is now fully automated, ensuring that users can efficiently leverage the available hardware resources without getting bogged down in complex technical details.

By providing engineers with the tools to more accurately predict and compensate for distortions, Siemens is empowering manufacturers to improve the quality and efficiency of their metal 3D printing workflows.