Numerical Simulation of Deformation Control for Laser Additive Manufacturing of Ti6Al4V Thin-walled Part

doi:10.11901/1005.3093.2025.371

Chinese Journal of Materials Research

2026, Vol. 40

Issue (10): 792-800 DOI: 10.11901/1005.3093.2025.371

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Numerical Simulation of Deformation Control for Laser Additive Manufacturing of Ti6Al4V Thin-walled Part

SUN Wenbo¹, LI Yingju², FENG Xiaohui²(

), QIU Yi², DONG Zhiguo², CAO Dali¹(

)

^1.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shenyang University of Chemical Technology, Shenyang 110142, China
^2.Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China

Cite this article:

SUN Wenbo, LI Yingju, FENG Xiaohui, QIU Yi, DONG Zhiguo, CAO Dali. Numerical Simulation of Deformation Control for Laser Additive Manufacturing of Ti6Al4V Thin-walled Part. Chinese Journal of Materials Research, 2026, 40(10): 792-800.

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Abstract

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) technique demonstrates tremendous potential in application, but this process tends to generate significant residual stresses within workpieces, potentially causing deformation. Herein, the L-PBF process for a thin-walled Ti6Al4V alloy elbow component was numerically simulated by means of finite element software in terms of the effect of the variation of laser powers and the speed of laser scanning on the deformation of the prepared workpiece of Ti6Al4V alloy. The simulation accurately predicted the deformation trends and magnitudes, quantitatively revealing the influence of laser power and scanning speed on the workpiece deformation. The optimal parameter combination was determined to be 180 W laser power and 1.2 m/s scanning speed based on the numerical investigation. Through L-PBF, a thin-walled Ti6Al4V alloy elbow component was fabricated, of which the deviations of dimensions were measured using a coordinate measuring machine, revealing good consistency between the measured data and the simulation results.

Key words: metallic materials numerical simulation laser powder bed fusion inherent strain thin-walled part

Received: 18 December 2025

ZTFLH:

TN249

Corresponding Authors: CAO Dali, Tel: 18604047649, E-mail: caodali2008@163.com;
FENG Xiaohui, Tel: 13609838580, E-mail: xhfeng@imr.ac.cn

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	SUN Wenbo
	LI Yingju
	FENG Xiaohui
	QIU Yi
	DONG Zhiguo
	CAO Dali

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https://www.cjmr.org/EN/10.11901/1005.3093.2025.371 OR https://www.cjmr.org/EN/Y2026/V40/I10/792

Fig.1 Mesh generation for 3D model

Table 1 Material properties of Ti6Al4V

Fig.2 Thermal conductivity (a), Young's modulus (b), thermal expansion (c), and flow stress curves (d) of Ti6Al4V alloy

Fig.3 Stress-time curves at different build heights

Fig.4 Displacement in three axial directions (a) displacement contour map in the X direction, (b) displacement contour map in the Y direction, (c) displacement contour map in the Z direction

Fig.5 Dimensional deviation statistics and X, Y, Z triaxial displacement nephograms under different laser powers (a) 140 W, (b) 160 W, (c) 180 W, (d) 200 W

Fig.6 Dimensional deviation statistics and X, Y, Z triaxial displacement nephograms under different laser scanning speeds (a) 1.1 m/s, (b) 1.3 m/s, (c) 1.4 m/s, (d) 1.5 m/s

Fig.7 Comparison of dimensional deviations between simulation results and actual measurements (a) total deformation simulation results for the formed part, (b) actual measured deformation results for the formed part, (c) deformation simulation results for Section 8, (d) actual measured results for Section 8

Table 2 Measurement data for sections at different sections

Fig.8 Simulation results node statistics

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