Finite element analysis of thermal behavior in maraging steel during SLM process

Maraging steel founds in a wide application in automotive and aerospace industries owing to its high strength, low weight, and high toughness. In this study, an effort has been made to successfully predict the temperature and melt pool characteristics of Maraging steel during laser scanning of the powder bed as observed in the additive manufacturing process. In additive manufacturing of metals, cooling and solidification rates are very high, leaving no time for observations and analysis. The temperature distribution governs the thermal behavior, grain size, morphology, and orientation. Variation of temperature and melt pool dimension is investigated with the speed and power of the laser, which is crucial to achieving the targeted properties. The rise in temperature and melt pool dimensions with subsequent layers is evident in the simulation results and agrees with the experimental work carried out for confirmation. Temperature-dependent properties for both powder and bulk material are used to closely model the analysis in ANSYS APDL to depict the real scenario.