Residual stress mitigation in directed energy deposition

Directed Energy Deposition (DED), a class of additive manufacturing techniques, has seen rapid growth over the last decade for potential applications in aerospace, medical devices, and energy systems. Despite notable progress in the research and development of AM, control and mitigation of residual stress during DED remains a challenge. In this work, we propose a novel approach that can be used for the mitigation of residual stresses in additively manufactured components. Specifically, we propose to mitigate the residual stress state of as-deposited components using alloy design, engineering of solid-state transformations, and the introduction of both hard and soft metallic phases. We demonstrate this strategy with a model system consisting of pure Fe and Fe–Cu. Experimental results indicate that residual stresses can be successfully manipulated by adjusting the alloy composition as a soft metallic phase can accommodate plastic deformation. Moreover, our findings suggest that the solid-state transformations experienced by the Fe and Fe-rich phases contribute to the observed differences in magnitude and location of residual stresses. This study is the first to suggest using residual stress as an engineering criterion in the design of alloys for metal additive manufacturing.