Finite element simulation of selective laser melting process for fabrication of metallic lattice materials

A finite element simulation is developed to study thermomechanicalbehavior of a metallic lattice material,fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) process. SLM iswidely used in manufacturing three-dimensional functionalparts layer by layer.A physics-based layer build-up approach coupled with asurface moving heat flux and a material properties updatealgorithm are incorporated into the modeling process.Thermal history in the multi-layer build-up process is alsoobtained. The main goal of this paper deals with how anSLM machine could make a lattice material from prealloyedTi-6Al-4V powder. Temperature and residual stressfields in the lattice material are also investigated.