Computational Tools for Additive Manufacture of Tailored Microstructure and Properties

Technical Report · Wed Jun 30 04:00:00 EDT 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1804483· OSTI ID:1804483

Sharon, John ^[1]; Acharya, Ranadip ^[2]; Staroselsky, Alexander ^[2]; Borkowski, Luke ^[2]; Ventura, Anthony ^[2]; Attridge, Paul ^[2]; Fisher, Brian ^[2]

---

1. Raytheon Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (United States); Raytheon Technologies Research Center
2. Raytheon Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (United States)

Additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize industrial hardware and unlock efficiency gains through the fabrication of geometries and architectures not possible by conventional processing. Currently most additive builds use a single set of process parameters (e.g. laser power and scan speed) which results in a part with a homogenous microstructure that provides a singular performance level. To move beyond this state, Raytheon Technologies Research Center worked to create a set of computational tools to track material evolution through each step of the additive process. Computational fluid dynamics and phase field models for microstructure evolution as a function of processing parameters, and crystal plasticity models fully coupling microstructure and mechanical properties for performance predictions were leveraged to establish a connection between additive parameters and the final microstructure. This framework was utilized to tailor spatially-varying mechanical properties in a part by appropriately controlling the microstructure evolution during the additive process. Specifically, a turbine blade was 3D printed from nickel superalloy IN718 using laser powder bed fusion with coarse grains in the airfoil section which experiences the highest temperatures and is creep limited while finer grains were printed in the root of the blade which experience higher stresses but at lower temperatures and is therefore fatigue limited. The benefit of being able to intentionally insert coarse grains in the high temperature region of the blade was showcased with a microstructure sensitive creep model that indicates longer creep life for coarser grains.

• Research Organization: Raytheon Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: FE0031642
• OSTI ID: 1804483
• Report Number(s): DOE-RTRC-FE0031642
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE