Thermomechanical analysis of multi-bead pulsed laser powder deposition of a nickel-based superalloy

In laser powder deposition (LPD) repair of nickel-based turbine blades, hot cracking is the most common defect. The cracking has been found to be associated with thermal stress concentration and low-melting constituents on the grain boundaries. For directionally solidified and single-crystal blades, a positive correlation is established between cracking and the “stray grain” formation. Control of the deposit molten pool shape has been proposed as an effective method to limit the stray grains. However, in multi-bead, multi-layer LPD with a pulsed laser, due to a much more complex bead geometry, appearance of stray grains seems to be random. To obtain insight into cracking and stray grain formation during multi-bead LPD process on nickel-based superalloys, a 3-D transient finite element (FE) model has been developed and a thermomechanical analysis is performed. Time-dependent temperature and thermal strain fields have been predicted. The developed thermal model has been applied to predict and analyze the distribution of thermal stress concentration and the tendency of stray grain formation. The reliability and accuracy of the model are verified experimentally by the measured temperature field profile and the observation of microstructure.