Rapid Additive Manufacturing Parameter Set and Materials Development using ICMD® Materials Design Software

Many materials initially developed for conventional manufacturing paths such as casting or forging were adapted for AM applications due to their relative weldability, increasing the likelihood of crack-free printability. However, due to the rapid solidification and remelting that occurs during the AM process, these alloys exhibit widely different microstructures and properties compared to their cast and wrought forms, and often lead to the formation of defects upon printing.

As a result, in developing processing specifications for materials in Additive Manufacturing (AM), most companies go through an iterative design of experiments (DOE) approach to establish processing parameters that result in reliable, repeatable, defect-free builds. In certain cases, this process can be time, cost and labor intensive. In other times, the existing materials may not yield the desired properties and performance.

ICMD® is a software platform that utilizes a combination of physics-based models, thermodynamic and kinetic databases, and efficient model workflow and visualization features that allow for the optimization and design of both materials and processes.

For additive manufacturing, ICMD can identify microstructures needed to satisfy properties which can be crucial to ensuring enhanced performance. Improved materials and thermal processing can be developed radically faster and at lower cost compared to an iterative design of experiments approach. Furthermore, in ICMD’s AM toolkit, enhanced printability mapping features can help guide process parameter development, decreasing the number of experiments required to fine-tune specifications.

This talk will provide an overview of the ICMD software and how the SaaS product is used to accelerate the qualification of materials in metal AM. The talk will include examples of optimizing legacy alloys to improve printability, generating printability maps for optimal, defect-free builds, and optimizing post-build heat treatment processes to improve printed material properties.