Improving the success rate in additive manufacturing and designing highly optimized structures require proper understanding of material behaviour. This study proposes a novel experimental method by which anisotropic mechanical properties of additively manufactured materials can be assessed. The procedure is based on tensile testing of flat specimens, manufactured by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) at different orientations relative to the build plate. In this study, the procedure was applied to the Inconel 718 alloy. Three identical specimen sets were built, each of which received complementary postprocessing treatments. The tensile tests were carried out on specimens with as-built surface finish. Digital image correlation was used to record the strain field evolution on two perpendicular surfaces of the tensile specimens under loading. An optimization algorithm is also proposed for determining the anisotropic elastic constants using only a few tensile test results. It was observed that both build orientation and postprocessing have strong influence on the anisotropic mechanical properties of the material. The effect of microstructure was also investigated and characterised. Consequently, three transversely isotropic compliance matrices were constructed, representing the effect of the different processing conditions.

The fatigue life of metal components is known to depend on the surface topography. For components made by laser powder bed fusion, the roughness of the as‐built surfaces depends on the orientation of the component surface with respect to the build plate. Surface topographies of AlSi10Mg and Inconel 718 specimens built at 0° to 90° inclination, with 15° increments, were characterised by white light interferometry. Two methods for calculating the stress concentration factor using the surface roughness data are proposed, and the results of each approach are presented and compared. Moreover, a finite element model was developed, in order to analyse the stress field when subsurface porosity is present. The fatigue lifetime estimates suggest that the lifetime of components may differ up to two orders of magnitude, depending on the build orientation.

Abstract.Fatigue life is known to be dependent on the surface properties of the material. Surface roughness provokes local stress concentration and cause crack initiation even at minute cyclic loads. In laser powder bed fusion, the as-built surfaces show variable roughness depending on the orientation of the specimens with respect to the build plate. In order to analyse the effect of build angle on surface properties, flat tensile specimens were produced from an AlSi10Mg alloy in a Concept Laser M2 Cusing machine. Seven specimens were arranged from flat to perpendicular with respect to the build plate at 15° intervals. The as-built surface topography of each specimen was characterised by white light interferometry. Two methods for calculating the stress concentration factor for high cycle fatigue simulation were developed. The presence of subsurface porosity was a crucial factor in expanding the stress concentration as demonstrated by finite element analysis.

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Purpose This study aims to introduce a novel approach in form of a comprehensive software suite to help understanding and optimizing the build orientation toward maximizing the fatigue lifetime of complex geometries. The objective is to find an optimized build orientation under a given in-service loading state, which brings on smoother surfaces in stressed regions, mitigated roughness-induced stress concentration and deferred crack initiation stage. The solution addresses scenarios that no post-build surface treatment can be applied. Design/methodology/approach To account for the surface topography, the staircase induced surface roughness is registered as a function of build angle using the white light interferometry characterization, based on which the stress concentration factor (kt) is calculated. Thereafter, the developed module in “Fatlab toolbox” is used to find the optimum build angle, considering the integrated surface orientations and stress analysis under a given loading condition. Findings Surface topography creates local stress concentrations upon loading, directly influencing the fatigue lifetime. It is a well-established fact that the conditions of the staircase geometry and surface roughness affect the magnitude of the stress concentration upon loading, which is influenced by the build orientation of the component. The proposed solution suggests the best build orientation that mitigates staircase-related surface roughness. Originality/value The suggested numerical approach assists the designers with positioning of the part on the build plate to minimize the build orientation-induced surface roughness and improve the as-built fatigue lifetime of the component.

Abstract-Additive manufacturing allows new design solutions for moulds and dies that can improve quality and productivity in casting processes. Complex cooling channels made by additive manufacturing give fast and reliable cooling and a more accurate control of the solidification. The paper shows a comparison of the cooling time of a die insert with a conventional cooling system and an insert with improved cooling channels. It is shown that improved cooling channels are highly efficient even with air cooling. Air could replace water as cooling medium, which will eliminate the explosion hazard in aluminium casting.

In order to explore the possibilities enabled by laser beam powder bed fusion of metals (PBF-LB/M), reliable material models are necessary to optimize designs with respect to weight and stiffness. Due to the unique processing conditions in PBF-LB/M, materials often develop a dominating microstructure that leads to anisotropic mechanical properties, and thus isotropic material models fail to account for the orientation-dependent mechanical properties. To investigate the anisotropy of 18Ni300 maraging steel, tensile specimens were built in seven different orientations. The specimens were heat treated at two different conditions and tested for their tensile properties using digital image correlation (DIC) technique. The microstructure and fracture surfaces are investigated with scanning electron microscope and electron backscatter diffraction. The tensile properties are typical for the material, with a yield strength in the range of 1850 MPa to 1950 MPa, and ultimate tensile strength in the range of 1900 MPa to 2000 MPa. The elastic modulus is 180 GPa, and the elongation at fracture is in the range of 2–6% for all specimens. The strain fields analysed with DIC reveals anisotropic straining in both the elastic and plastic parts of the flow curve for both direct ageing and solution treatment plus ageing specimens. In the former condition, the elastic anisotropy is dictated by the fraction of melt pool boundaries on the transverse surfaces of the specimens. When the material is solution treated prior to ageing, the melt pool boundary effect was supressed.

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