Damage modeling of metallic alloys made by additive manufacturing

Failure prediction of metallic parts fabricated by 3D printing process is still challenging so that it is of vital importance to develop accurate microstructural-based simulation tools. In this study, a micromechanical model is proposed to predict the relationship between microstructure features, such as grains and melt pools, and the damage properties of powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (AM) products. The model reproduces the role of multiple effective key parameters on the mechanical response of the AM parts, which are observed experimentally, and reveals the effects of the microscopic defects, melt pool sizes, and the crystal orientations of grains on the failure response of AM parts. The materials presented in this paper can be used as a practical reference for predicting the failure response of AM products. In addition, it provides an important step toward the development of a multidisciplinary computational package for the sake of understanding and controlling the AM build process.