Effect of path planning on residual stress distribution in laser powder deposition process

One of the important parameters in the laser powder deposition process is the deposition pattern that affects the final quality of the deposited material. In this study, a finite element method is used to model the thermal and structural behavior of the laser powder deposition process. An area is covered with AISI H13 powder with three different deposition patterns: one-section, two-section, and three-section. The two-section pattern divides the one-section pattern into two sections, and similarly the three- section pattern divides it into three sections. The results show that dividing the deposition area into smaller regions changes the temperature history of the process and, consequently, the residual stress distribution. Among the three deposition patterns, three-section pattern shows smaller stress level.