A predictive model for in situ distortion correction in laser powder bed fusion using laser shock peen forming

Described is a hybrid metal additive manufacturing (AM) method that integrates in situ laser shock peen (LSP) forming with laser powder bed fusion (PBF) to mitigate vertical distortions during part builds. LSP has recently been proposed to reduce tensile residual stresses during selective laser melting (SLM). The effects of LSP on part distortion, however, have not been rigorously examined. It is proposed here that SLM can be integrated with in situ LSP forming to reduce distortion of the upper surface of parts during or after printing. To study the distortion correction capability, a 2-stage computational framework is created, which includes physics-based models of the SLM process and LSP treatment. Stage 1 includes thermomechanical SLM simulation to predict surface geometry and is applied to model four 50-μm layers of a 316L part having a 4 mm × 4 mm footprint. Stage 2 of the framework includes an elastic-plastic thermomechanical shock-wave simulation to predict LSP surface treatment forming effects. Surface distortion is examined for varying laser spot size, overlap, and part temperatures from 300 to 500 K, using a nanosecond-pulsed infrared laser. For the 316L SLM sample, the upper surface is predicted to have ∼ 9-μm vertical distortion on the 200-μm 4-layer build. With a 2-μm allowable distortion, only 44.13% of the surface initially conforms. After one LSP forming treatment at 300 K, conformance improves to 84.75%. After a third LSP forming, with 50% laser power-density increase, surface conformance increases to 91%, demonstrating potential of the hybrid AM-LSP process in reducing finish-machining.