Unravelling the meso-scale process behaviour during laser powder bed fusion of metals by combining novel numerical simulation strategies with process monitoring

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is a widely used Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique for processing various types of metals by selectively scanning metal powder particles in a layer-by-layer fashion. Due to the complex and multi-physical nature of this process, the threefold relation between processing parameters, laser-powder interaction, and resulting melt pool behaviour is at present not fully understood. This PhD research aims to address this by researching new strategies for numerical simulation of LPBF process-material interaction and behaviour for different powder and process conditions. Simulation results will be compared with actual AM samples characteristics by using state-of-the-art LPBF equipment and melt pool monitoring data. The resulting insights in process meso-scale properties should enable better LPBF control strategies as well as faster screening of optimal LPBF processing parameters for new materials.