Thermo-mechanical modelling of stress relief heat treatments after laser-based powder bed fusion

Laser-based powder bed fusion, due to its layer-by-layer nature, results in a unique stress profile in a part after the primary production process. The residual stresses are typically tensile near the top, while they are compressive near the bottom of the part. When it is removed without proper precautions, the part will bend excessively.

In order to alleviate this deformation, a stress relief heat treatment can be applied. In this paper, such a stress relaxation heat treatment is modelled to investigate the effect of the post-processing parameters. The model uses an Arrhenius-type creep equation to simulate the influence of the heat treatment temperature and dwell time on the stress field in a relatively simple cantilever beam produced in Ti-6Al-4V.

Via validation of the simulations, the effect of the heat treatment is shown to be represented accurately. The validated model is used to predict the deformation that results from the residual stresses after heat treating the part under various conditions. The results from the simulations ultimately allow choosing the optimal heat treatment conditions to obtain a given reduction in the residual stress level, while reducing the need for extensive experimental investigations.