A process-microstructure finite element simulation framework for predicting phase transformations and microhardness for directed energy deposition of Ti6Al4V

This paper presents a process-microstructure finite element modeling framework for predicting the evolution of volumetric phase fractions and microhardness during laser directed energy deposition (DED) additive manufacturing of Ti6Al4V. Based on recent experimental observations, the present microstructure evolution model is formulated to combine the formation and dissolution kinetics of grain boundary, Widmanstatten colony/basketweave, massive/martensitic alpha and beta phases of Ti6Al4V. The microstructure evolution algorithm is verified and embedded into a three-dimensional finite element process simulation model to simulate thermally driven phase transformations during DED processing of a Ti6Al4V thin-walled rectangular sample. The microhardness values of different locations of the part, which experience different thermal histories, are computed based on the simulated fractions and hardness values of different phases in the final microstructure. The simulated volumetric phase fractions and related microhardness distribution agree reasonably well with experimental measurements performed on the sample. Thus the proposed simulation model could be useful for designers to understand and control process-microstructure-property relationships in a DED-processed part.