The Effect of Toolpath Strategy on Residual Stress Distribution in Cold Spray Additive Manufacturing

Cold spray is a high velocity powder deposition method, with unique properties that boost its application for additive manufacturing and bulk deposition of materials that are innately difficult to process. Development of cold spray as an additive manufacturing method requires understanding of residual stress evolution in the deposited layers, substrate, and their interface. These residual stresses, as noted by many prior studies, are a culmination of both mechanical and thermal effects during the deposition. In this study, a detailed finite element model of the deposition process was developed in ABAQUS software to investigate the effect of toolpath strategy selection on the distribution of residual stresses. This model considers multiple deposition strategies and takes both mechanical and thermal effects into account. The results show a noticeable effect of toolpath strategy on generation and evolution of residual stresses. The simulations confirm the experimental observations and provide helpful details on the significance of toolpath strategy selection.