Additive Manufacturing Beta Features

ANSYS, Inc. Release 2023 R1

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Additive Manufacturing Beta Features

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Table of Contents
Beta Features Disclaimer ............................................................................................................................... v
1. Beta Features for SpaceClaim ................................................................................................................. 1
1. Distortion Compensation Add-in (Beta) ........................................................................................... 3
1.1. Setting Up the Distortion Compensation Add-in in SpaceClaim ................................................... 3
1.2. Distortion Compensation Workflow (from Workbench Additive) .................................................. 4
2. Beta Features for Additive Science ......................................................................................................... 9
1. Thermal History Simulation (Beta) .................................................................................................. 11
1.1. Geometry Selection .................................................................................................................. 11
1.2. Material Configuration .............................................................................................................. 11
1.3. Machine Configuration ............................................................................................................. 12
1.4. Specifying Outputs ................................................................................................................... 12
1.5. Reviewing Results ..................................................................................................................... 14
2. Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials ........................................................ 17
2.1. Overview .................................................................................................................................. 17
2.1.1. What is Penetration Depth? .............................................................................................. 17
2.1.2. What is Absorptivity? ........................................................................................................ 18
2.2. Create Material Lookup File (.csv) .............................................................................................. 18
2.3. Create Material Parameters File (.json) ....................................................................................... 19
2.4. Run Single Bead Experiments .................................................................................................... 21
2.5. Identify and Remove Experimental Outliers ............................................................................... 22
2.6. Create Experimental Data File (.csv) ........................................................................................... 24
2.7. Find Characteristic Width Values and Generate Characteristic Width File (.csv) ............................ 24
2.8. Find Simulation Parameters to Match Simulation to Experiments ............................................... 25
2.9. Identify Coefficients for Penetration Depth and Absorptivity ...................................................... 27
2.10. Edit Material Configuration File (.json) and Check Results ......................................................... 30
2.11. User Defined Material File Requirements ................................................................................. 34
2.11.1. Material Configuration File ............................................................................................. 34
2.11.2. Material Lookup Table .................................................................................................... 37
2.11.3. Characteristic Width Lookup Table .................................................................................. 37
3. Beta Features for Workbench Additive ................................................................................................. 39
1. Maraging Steel Transformation Extension (Beta) ........................................................................... 41
1.1. Setting Up the MaragingSteelTransformation Extension ............................................................ 41
1.2. Running the Simulation with Maraging Steel ............................................................................. 45
1.3. Known Limitations and Restrictions ........................................................................................... 47

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Beta Features Disclaimer
This is beta documentation for one or more beta software features.

• Beta features are considered unreleased and have not been fully tested nor fully validated. The
results are not guaranteed by Ansys, Inc. (Ansys) to be correct. You assume the risk of using beta
features.

• At its discretion, Ansys may release, change, or withdraw beta features in future revisions.

• Beta features are not subject to the Ansys Class 3 error reporting system. Ansys makes no com-
mitment to resolve defects reported against beta features; however, your feedback will help us
improve the quality of the product.

• Ansys does not guarantee that database and/or input files used with beta features will run suc-
cessfully from version to version of the software, nor with the final released version of the features.
You may need to modify the database and/or input files before running them on other versions.

• Documentation for beta features is called beta documentation, and it may not be written to the
same standard as documentation for released features. Beta documentation may not be complete
at the time of product release. At its discretion, Ansys may add, change, or delete beta document-
ation at any time.

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 Part 1: Beta Features for SpaceClaim
Distortion Compensation Add-in (Beta) (p. 3)

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Chapter 1: Distortion Compensation Add-in (Beta)
Simulations in Workbench Additive and Additive Print accurately predict part distortion during the
build. You can use the Distortion Compensation add-in in SpaceClaim to automatically create a distortion
compensated geometry, essentially reversing distortion effects. Engineers can then use the compensated
geometry file in their production builds and be assured of a final part that conforms to design intent.

Note:

The Distortion Compensation Add-on in Mechanical and the Distortion Compensation Add-
in (beta) in SpaceClaim, described here, differ in their ease of use and flexibility. The add-on
in Mechanical automates the compensation process from beginning to end by faceting and
compensating the geometry then re-running iterations until the final geometry falls within
defined tolerances. The add-in in SpaceClaim involves a much more manual process, but
enables greater control of the remeshed triangles and mapping of the solution results that
may enable you to handle more complex situations.

1.1. Setting Up the Distortion Compensation Add-in in SpaceClaim

First be sure the Distortion Compensation (Beta) add-in is enabled in SpaceClaim:

File>SpaceClaim Options>Add-ins

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Distortion Compensation Add-in (Beta)

Once the add-in is enabled, you will need to close and reopen SpaceClaim. This is only necessary the
first time this option is enabled.

1.2. Distortion Compensation Workflow (from Workbench Additive)

1. In Workbench Additive, set up and solve an additive simulation, as normal, using either the Inherent
Strain or Thermal-Structural method.

2. Create the UVECTORS result item

Insert a user defined result and write the expression “UVECTORS.”

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 Distortion Compensation Workflow (from Workbench Additive)

Right-click Solution and evaluate all results.

3. Turn on node locations for exported data

Go to File > Options > Export and make sure to include the node numbers, node locations and
tensor components.

4. Export the UVECTORS result in a .txt file

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Distortion Compensation Add-in (Beta)

Right-click the UVECTORS result, Export > Export Text File

5. Open SpaceClaim and load geometry used in simulation.

6. Go to Distortion Compensation tab

7. Convert geometry to facets if not already faceted. In this step, we can control the quality of the fa-
ceted geometry to prevent the need for future adjustments.

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 Distortion Compensation Workflow (from Workbench Additive)

8. Clean up geometry if needed with Smooth, Reduce, Regularize, and Shrinkwrap tools.

9. Import distortions

a. Click Import Displacements button, select the exported UVECTORS result.

b. You can also import a .vtk file if you have one.

10. Distort Mesh and input the scale factor.

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Distortion Compensation Add-in (Beta)

11. Compare geometries with the Deviation tool. Deviation probes can help to visualize areas with large
distortion.

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 Part 2: Beta Features for Additive Science
Thermal History Simulation (Beta) (p. 11)

Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials (p. 17)

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Chapter 1: Thermal History Simulation (Beta)
In this simulation type, given a material, a part, and all the process parameters, melt pool dimensions
and thermal history are output for a particular cross-section of your part, simulating results from a
coaxial average sensor. This feature is a Beta feature at this release.

For your chosen machine and material, Single Bead simulations allow you to explore the effects of
process parameter combinations on melt pool size and shape for a single scan line. Porosity simulations
allow you to study lack-of-fusion porosity in a block of material for selected sets of process parameters.
In a Thermal History simulation, you will gain insight into the thermal history of your own, unique part.
Different thermal conditions may exist in different areas of your part, leading to hot and cold regions
that may be indicative of hot cracking, delamination, porosity or property variations, among other
things.

The Coaxial Average Sensor provides a map of the instantaneous melt pool dimensions (length, width,
and depth) and average temperatures within a circular field of view (FOV) centered about the laser
position at the top surface of the part. The output includes a single 2D set of .vtk data for each deposit
layer within the height range(s) specified.

1.1. Geometry Selection

Select a part for simulation by adding it to your simulation form. Regardless of whether you add a part
or a build file, it must have been uploaded first to the Parts Library or Build File Library, respectively.

Supports are not simulated in Thermal History simulations.

1.2. Material Configuration

Select from the following materials available for Thermal History simulations:

• 17-4 PH stainless steel

• 316L stainless steel (Beta)

• Aluminum Al357

• Aluminum AlSi10Mg

• Cobalt-chrome (CoCr)

• Inconel 625

• Inconel 718

• Titanium 6-4

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Thermal History Simulation (Beta)

1.3. Machine Configuration

Specify the following process parameters:

Machine - A placeholder for future machine configurations. Defaults to Generic for now.

Baseplate Temperature (°C) - The controlled temperature of the baseplate. Must be between 20 and
500. The default value is 80°C.

Layer Thickness (μm) - The thickness of the powder layer coating that is applied with every pass of
the recoater blade. Must be between 10 and 100. The default value is 50 microns.

Starting Layer Angle (°) - The angle at which the first layer will be scanned. It is measured from the X
axis, such that a value of 0° results in scan lines parallel to the X axis. Must be between 0 and 180°. The
starting layer angle is commonly set to 57° (default).

Layer Rotation Angle (°) - The angle at which the major scan vector orientation changes from layer
to layer. Must be between 0 and 180°. This is commonly 67° (default).

Hatch Spacing (μm) - The distance between adjacent scan vectors when rastering back and forth with
the laser. Hatch spacing should allow for a slight overlap of scan vector tracks such that some of the
material re-melts to ensure full coverage of solid material. Must be between 0.06 and 0.2 mm. The default
Hatch Spacing is 0.1 mm (100 microns).

Slicing Stripe Width - When using the stripe pattern for scan strategy, the geometry can be broken
up into sections, called stripes. The stripes are scanned sequentially to break up what would otherwise
be very long continuous scan vectors. Slicing Stripe Width is commonly set to 10 mm wide. Memory
requirements for the thermal solution will expand significantly as you increase the Slicing Stripe Width
much beyond the default. Must be between 1 and 100 mm. Defaults to 10 mm.

Laser Beam Diameter (μm) - The width of the laser on the powder or substrate surface defined using
the D4σ beam diameter definition. Usually this value is provided by the machine manufacturer. Sometimes
called laser spot diameter. Defaults to 100 μm.

Laser Power (W) - The power setting for the laser in the machine. Must be between 50 and 700. Defaults
to 195 Watts.

Scan Speed (mm/sec) - The speed at which the laser scans, excluding jump speeds and ramp up and
down speeds. Must be between 350 and 2500. The default value is 1000 mm/sec.

1.4. Specifying Outputs

The Outputs area of the simulation form is where you select which sensors to simulate. At this release,
only a Coaxial average sensor is available.

The Sensor Radius defines the FOV radius over which the temperatures are averaged. As the thermal
gradients are highest in the immediate proximity of the melt pool, the average temperature will generally
decrease as the radius is increased. This allows you to observe the temperature field at multiple length
scales. The melt pool dimensions are not averaged, and therefore unaffected by the FOV radius. The
Sensor Radius must be between 0.05 and 15 mm. The default value is 1.0.

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 Specifying Outputs

The Sensor Z Height Range controls which layers in the part will have results generated. Values are
relative to the bottom of the part (Z=0). Use a height range of the area of the part that is of interest,
such as at the height of a special geometric feature. When you have a part selected in the simulation
form, the Z Upper Bound reflects that part's maximum height dimension, in millimeters.

As an example, say you have a part where the location of interest is around 16 mm. If you have a Layer
Thickness of 35 microns, a Sensor Z Height Range of 15.86 (lower bound) to 16.14 (upper bound) will
produce 8 ((16.14-15.86)/.035) layers of results files. (Note that you do not need to specify a range that
will produce an even multiple of layers.)

Multiple sets of ranges may be specified. Add each new range to the form, as needed. The simulation
time will increase as the total combined height selected increases.

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Thermal History Simulation (Beta)

1.5. Reviewing Results

Results for Thermal History simulations consist of 2D .vtk files, one for each layer specified in the height
range. The position of each data point corresponds to the laser position at each finite time step as the
layer was scanned. As a result, the data will appear as thin lines that represent the laser's scan path.

Paraview is an open-source, multi-platform data analysis and visualization application. Within Paraview,
extract the melt pool and temperature data by doing the following:

1. Open a file corresponding to a layer and make it active.

2. Select a data type to display, such as melt pool depth, length, width, or temperatures. (Remem-
ber, temperatures are averaged over the FOV.)

3. Set up two side-by-side windows so you can view the rendered results in one window and a
spreadsheet view of the data in the other.

4. In the render view window, increase the line width to improve visibility.

5. In the spreadsheet view window, select any point and then press and hold the down-arrow key
down to jump through data points so as to "follow the dot" in the render view window. This
gives you a visualization of how the laser is scanning that cross section of the part.

6. In the render view window, zoom in and out, as desired, to examine your results.

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 Reviewing Results

When reviewing results, you may want to zoom out to see the entire cross-section and look for hot and
cold spots in various geometric features on different layers. That gives you an indication for how the
specific scan pattern you've selected results in a specific thermal distribution (which may or may not
differ significantly from layer to layer depending upon the scan pattern and geometry combination).

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Chapter 2: Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User
Defined Materials
This chapter describes the process of creating user defined materials, including the use of the Ansys
Additive Material Tuning Tool (Beta) that automates much of the simulation work for you.

2.1. Overview
2.2. Create Material Lookup File (.csv)
2.3. Create Material Parameters File (.json)
2.4. Run Single Bead Experiments
2.5. Identify and Remove Experimental Outliers
2.6. Create Experimental Data File (.csv)
2.7. Find Characteristic Width Values and Generate Characteristic Width File (.csv)
2.8. Find Simulation Parameters to Match Simulation to Experiments
2.9. Identify Coefficients for Penetration Depth and Absorptivity
2.10. Edit Material Configuration File (.json) and Check Results
2.11. User Defined Material File Requirements

2.1. Overview
Thermal simulations in Additive Science use a simple volumetric heat source model that allows for rel-
atively fast simulations times and is able to accurately capture the size of melt pools associated with
additive manufacturing. With this simplified heat source model, the penetration depth and absorptivity
are required internal inputs that are generally unknown and vary based on other process parameters.
Ansys predefined materials have been established using a material tuning process that determines
penetration depth and absorptivity coefficients. With the user defined material capability, you can ex-
amine trends and create your own materials that account for these variations in absorptivity and pen-
etration depth.

2.1.1. What is Penetration Depth?

The penetration depth is defined as the distance a laser heat source can reach down to the material
at its 95% cumulative energy. During the additive manufacturing process, the laser can vaporize ma-
terial in the melt pool, which may sometimes create a vapor cavity within the melt pool. Depending
on the laser power level, the vapor cavity size will vary. In general, a larger vapor cavity will contribute
to a deeper penetration depth since less energy is lost within the vapor cavity. Our simplified volu-
metric heat source model does not cover the vapor cavity formation phenomenon, therefore, we
need to include coefficients to tune the model with respect to different materials and process para-
meters.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

Four penetration depth coefficients that will be determined by the tuning process are:

• penetrationDepthPowderCoeffA

• penetrationDepthPowderCoeffB

• penetrationDepthSolidCoeffA

• penetrationDepthSolidCoeffB

2.1.2. What is Absorptivity?

As the laser penetrates into the material, laser reflections and absorption by the vapor cavity affect
the fraction of energy absorbed by the melt pool. The fraction of energy absorbed by the melt pool
is defined as absorptivity. Since our model simplifies the laser interactions with the vapor, we need
to include coefficients to tune the model with respect to different materials and process parameters.

Four absorptivity coefficients that will be determined by the tuning process are:

• absorptivityPowderCoeffA

• absorptivityPowderCoeffB

• absorptivitySolidCoeffA

• absorptivitySolidCoeffB

2.2. Create Material Lookup File (.csv)

Ansys Additive Science relies on temperature dependent thermal properties for its simulations. These
properties can be identified through experiments, literature, or CALPHAD software. For best results, we
recommend using material properties of additively manufactured materials, specifically.

The required temperature dependent properties are as follows and their values should be provided for
a temperature range from 2 Kelvin to 15000 Kelvin in intervals of 2 Kelvin:

• Thermal Conductivity (W/m/K)

• Specific Heat (J/kg/K)

• Density (kg/m3)

• Thermal Conductivity Ratio: Ratio of powder conductivity to solid conductivity. Typically, we use
the following values with respect to different temperature ranges:

– Thermal Conductivity Ratio = 0.01 when temperature is from 2K to 0.6 times the solidus tem-
perature of the material

– Thermal Conductivity Ratio = 0.4 when temperature is from 0.6 times the solidus temperature
to the liquidus temperature of the material

– Thermal Conductivity Ratio = 1 when temperature is from the liquidus temperature and above

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 Create Material Parameters File (.json)

• Density Ratio: Ratio of powder density to solid density. Typically, we use the following values
with respect to different temperature ranges:

– Density Ratio = 0.6 when temperature is from 2 K to the liquidus temperature of the material

– Density Ratio = 1 when temperature is from the liquidus temperature and above

• Specific Heat Ratio: Ratio of powder specific heat to solid specific heat. Typically, 1.

The temperature dependent properties should be organized into a .csv material lookup file with columns
of Temperature (Kelvin), Thermal Conductivity (W/m/K), Specific Heat (J/kg/K), Density(kg/m3), Thermal
Conductivity Ratio, Density Ratio and Specific Heat Ratio.

Important:

Our tuning tool can read only “,” format so take care if you are from regions with different
localization settings. Be sure to use “,” instead of “;” in your .csv file.

A portion of the table is shown below. Temperatures are represented as integers from 2K to 15000K,
in intervals of 2K. For more information, refer to Material Lookup Table (p. 37).

Temperature Thermal Specific Heat Density Thermal Density Specific

(K) Conductivity (J/kg/K) (kg/m3) Conductivity Ratio Heat
(W/m/K) Ratio Ratio
272 5.98 536.42 4348.75 0.01 0.6 1
274 6.02 536.59 4348.75 0.01 0.6 1
276 6.05 537.48 4348.75 0.01 0.6 1
278 6.08 538.89 4348.75 0.01 0.6 1
280 6.11 540.18 4348.75 0.01 0.6 1
282 6.14 541.24 4348.75 0.01 0.6 1

Here is the .csv file for the example table above.

2.3. Create Material Parameters File (.json)

Besides the six temperature dependent thermal properties described in the previous section, you will
also need to obtain a set of material properties and model coefficients for the model tuning process.

The following figure shows an AlSi10Mg material parameters file example. It stores three categories of
parameters: material inherent properties, material mechanical properties and model tuning coefficients.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

Four penetration depth tuning coefficients and four absorptivity tuning coefficients are included in the
model tuning coefficients category and are all set to 0 as the beginning of the tuning process. You
need to obtain all parameter values and store them in the layout shown in .json format.

For details and default values of parameters in the material parameters file, refer to Material Configuration
File (p. 34).

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 Run Single Bead Experiments

2.4. Run Single Bead Experiments

To tune the volumetric heat source model for a user defined material, you need to run a series of single
bead experiments to compare with simulation results. At a minimum, 9 different parameter combinations
should be used. To identify what parameter combinations to use, a good method is to base them on
default parameters for the alloy of choice or an alloy with similar thermal properties. The default para-
meter set is defined as the machine vendor recommended process parameter set or the material man-
ufacturer's optimized process parameter set. Use this parameter combination as the high power-high
speed case and vary power and speed lower from there. Generally, 100W and 500 mm/s are decent
choices for lower power and speed thresholds. Space out a grid of parameter combinations between
the high and low bounds for speed and power, and use this grid as a basis for the experiments. You
may want to remove some of the low power-high speed cases as the melt pools may be inconsistent
and difficult to measure in those areas. An example of a range of experimental parameters is shown in
the following figure.

We recommend you build the single beads on pads with a layer of powder added. This ensures that
the experimental conditions more closely match the conditions you will find in a build when considering
material properties and powder layer thickness. Make sure to use default process parameters for pad
fabrication to achieve the best top surface layer quality possible. The following are some additional
suggestions for experiments:

• Make at least 3 replications for single bead at each P-V combination.

• Each single bead scan should be at least 10 mm long.

• Scan single beads perpendicular to the final layer of the as-built pad to create contrast.

• Keep laser beam diameter and preheat temperature constant for all experiments.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

• Allow time to cool down to the preheat temperature after the spread of the powder layer to minimize
the shrinkage effect of the as-built substrate before depositing the single beads.

• Sample the melt pool cross sections near the middle point of each single bead scan to ensure a stable
scanning condition.

After the single bead samples have been fabricated, they should be sectioned, polished, etched, and
then measured for melt pool cross-sectional dimensions. Measurements should be taken from multiple
cross sections or multiple samples of each parameter set for more consistent results. Melt pool width
and depth should be measured from the substrate surface as shown in the following figure. These melt
pool experimental dimensions correspond to the median reference melt pool dimensions in the simulation.

2.5. Identify and Remove Experimental Outliers

After single bead widths and depths have been measured, it is time to check for outliers in the experi-
mental dataset. First, review the trends in the measurements to check for any unexpected changes in
depth or width. For instance, melt pool size should be expected to decrease with an increase in speed
for a fixed power. Similarly, melt pool size should be expected to decrease with a decrease in power
for a fixed speed. If certain points in your dataset do not follow the expected trends, these experimental
data points should be omitted or remeasured. To determine which point or points are outliers, you can
compare the deviation of measurements from different locations along the single bead, or look at the
quality of individual melt pools.

The following figure shows an example where melt pool widths at 880 mm/s follow an acceptable trend
with power, but widths at 1320 mm/s show a decrease when going from 315 to 345 W. Taking a look
at the data from the cases near the problematic parameter combinations, we can see a significantly
higher standard deviation for the 315 W, 1320 mm/s case. This parameter combination is an outlier and
cross sections should be remeasured, or the case should just be omitted from future use.

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 Identify and Remove Experimental Outliers

In some cases, low quality or balling single beads can make it difficult to get consistent measurements.
If single bead melt pools look to be exhibiting balling or other issues but full parts or porosity samples
show low porosity, the single bead experiments can be modified to show more consistent results. To
do this, deposit multiple scan lines next to each other in a single layer pad. This can create more con-
sistent melt pool sizes and enable better measurements of melt pool depth and width. If you use this
strategy, repeat it for all parameter combinations to ensure consistency.

In cases where melt pool morphologies are not distinguishable from the as-built pad microstructures
(e.g., Ti64), depositing a layer of powder directly onto a wrought or cast plate of the same material for
the single bead experiments is an option. However, in this case, the layer thickness value that you
specify in the experimental data file (p. 24) should be equal to the actual powder layer thickness used
in the experiments multiplied by the powder packing density. For example, if a 60 µm layer thickness
of powder is deposited onto the plate and the powder packing density is 0.6, then the actual layer
thickness that you should use in the experimental data file is 60*0.6=36 µm. This is because the simulation
uses the layer thickness after solidification instead of the actual powder layer thickness.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

2.6. Create Experimental Data File (.csv)

After the appropriate experimental dataset has been identified, arrange the data as shown in the fol-
lowing table. (This example shows only a portion of the data.) Then create the experimental data .csv
file. Make sure to use the exact header and units as shown.

Important:

Our tuning tool can read only “,” format so take care if you are from regions with different
localization settings. Be sure to use “,” instead of “;” in your .csv file.

Power Speed Layer Thickness Beam Diameter Baseplate Width (m) Depth (m)
(W) (m/s) (m) (m) Temperature
(C)
370 1.335 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000220333 0.000101667
370 1.035 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000280333 0.000188
370 0.735 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000332 0.000262333
270 1.335 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000172333 0.000068
270 1.035 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000210333 0.0000833
270 0.735 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000273333 0.00018
170 1.335 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000135333 0.000039
170 1.035 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000145333 0.0000417
170 0.735 3.00E-05 8.50E-05 150 0.000159667 0.000046

Here is the .csv file for the example table above.

2.7. Find Characteristic Width Values and Generate Characteristic Width

File (.csv)
The characteristic widths are simulation melt pool widths from single bead simulations with no powder
and a very small surface heat source. It serves as a reference benchmark for the melt pool width created
by a point source laser. The characteristic width file is required to create a user defined material in the

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 Find Simulation Parameters to Match Simulation to Experiments

Materials Library. Absorptivity in these cases should be close to the low end of the values found in the
previous step; generally, this will be around 0.2.

Keep the baseplate temperature the same as the one in the single bead experiments to generate the
characteristic width file. Create a characteristic width lookup table and interpolate to find characteristic
widths for each experimental parameter combination. You can run simulations across the provided set
of power-speed combinations for characteristic widths. Once you have a characteristic width from each
combination, create a characteristic width .csv file with columns of power (W), speed (m/s), and charac-
teristic width (m). The Material Tuning Tool automates the simulations and interpolation for you.

When using the Material Tuning Tool, 8 levels of laser power and 8 levels of scan speed are used as
defaults to create 64 combinations for the characteristic width file generation.

Laser power (W): 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400, 500, 700

Scan speed (mm/s): 350, 500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500, 2000, 2500

Choose to either upload an existing characteristic width table or generate a new one in the Material
Tuning Tool.

For details and default values of parameters in the Characteristic Width File, refer to Characteristic Width
Lookup Table (p. 37).

2.8. Find Simulation Parameters to Match Simulation to Experiments

Once experimental data has been gathered, you need to find the model parameters that result in
matching simulation and experimental melt pool dimensions. The two unknown parameter sets that
must be determined for the model are the absorptivity and heat source penetration depth. Both values
will vary based on the process parameters used. In higher energy density scenarios, the laser vaporizes
material in the melt pool and penetrates into the substrate. As the penetration depth increases, the
fraction of energy absorbed by the melt pool increases due to internal reflections and other effects.

For each parameter combination, you will need to iterate to find matching absorptivity and penetration
depth values. To start, you may want to choose a penetration depth that is near the experimental melt
pool depth, and an absorptivity around 0.5. Once you have simulation results from an iteration, compare
them to experimental results and adjust the absorptivity and penetration depth to step closer to exper-
imental results. In general, increasing absorptivity will increase both the melt pool width and depth.
Increasing penetration depth will increase melt pool depth and can slightly affect melt pool width. In
the Ansys Additive Material Tuning Tool, we set the starting penetration depth and absorptivity values
as fixed, at 0.0001 m and 0.5 respectively.

Iterate on each parameter combination until experimental and simulation results are within an acceptable
error tolerance (5% suggested). Once this has been achieved, record the model inputs used to create
the results and move on to the next parameter set. Repeat this process until you have absorptivity and
penetration depth parameters for each experimental case.

In some cases, you may not be able to find an absorptivity and penetration depth combination that
results in melt pool dimensions within the given tolerances. In these cases, mark the parameter combin-
ation as unconverged and continue to the next parameter set. If this happens across many cases, you
may want to check some of the other parameter inputs such as beam diameter to see if there are errors
in the input values.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

The Material Tuning Tool automates the above-mentioned iteration process and caps the number of
iterations at 15. To start the automatic tuning process, import the above mentioned three files, experi-
mental data file, material parameters file and material lookup file. Then specify an output directory and
allowable error percentage. Choose either uploading an existing characteristic width table or generating
a new one in the Material Tuning Tool. Once everything is configured, click the Start button to run the
automatic tuning process. Note that when running the Material Tuning Tool, you can still run Additive
Print and Science simulations.

Once the Material Tuning Tool is completed, a .csv file called Optimized_Parameters will be created in
the output folder. This Optimized_Parameters file contains information that will be used to determine
penetration depth and absorptivity coefficients.

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 Identify Coefficients for Penetration Depth and Absorptivity

If you chose to generate the characteristic width file, a CW_Lookup .csv file will also be created in the
output folder.

2.9. Identify Coefficients for Penetration Depth and Absorptivity

Using the Optimized_Parameters file, obtain penetration depth and absorptivity coefficients via simple
linear regression.

The following figure shows a portion of an Optimized_Parameters file.

First, filter out FALSE rows in the Converged column. This will remove all unconverged parameter
combinations. (Unconverged means the simulation melt pool reference dimensions did not reach the
experimental melt pool dimensions within the provided error tolerance.)

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

Next, focus on the last 3 columns of the file.

The Fitted Penetration Depth is defined as following:

Plot Fitted Penetration Depth/Characteristic Width against Beam Diameter/Characteristic Width. Graph
a line-of-best-fit on the data in the format shown below:

A is the penetrationDepthPowderCoeffA and penetrationDepthSolidCoeffA in your material configuration

file (.json).

B is the penetrationDepthPowderCoeffB and penetrationDepthSolidCoeffB in your material configuration

file (.json).

To get the penetration depth coefficients, plot Absorptivity against Beam Diameter/Characteristic Width.
Remove data points that are outliers of a linear trend where the absorptivity already hits the bound.
Again, graph a line-of-best-fit on the data in the format shown below:

Here, A is the absorptivityPowderCoeffA and absorptivitySolidCoeffA to be used in your material config-

uration file (.json).

Here, B in the absorptivityPowderCoeffB and absorptivitySolidCoeffB to be used in your material config-

uration file (.json).

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 Identify Coefficients for Penetration Depth and Absorptivity

In addition, the upper and lower limits for penetration depth and absorptivity are defined using penet-
rationDepthMaximum, penetrationDepthMinimum, absorptivityMaximum and absorptivityMinimum in
the material parameters file. When you start to notice that fitted PD/CW and/or absorptivity values
stabilize with the change of BD/CW, as in the above two plots, adjust penetrationDepthMaximum,
penetrationDepthMinimum, absorptivityMaximum and absorptivityMinimum to avoid those regions.
For example, when BD/CW changes from 0.7 to 0.85 in the following plot, the absorptivity does not
change much. It is very likely that the absorptivity for these cases already reached the lower limit. You
can lift up the lower limit of absorptivity by increasing the absorptivityMinimum value to a higher one
for another tuning.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

2.10. Edit Material Configuration File (.json) and Check Results

Using the coefficients found in the previous step, fill out the appropriate fields in your material para-
meters file as shown in the following table. Save the file as your Material Configuration File (.json).

penetrationDepthPowderCoeffA A from modified penetration depth best fit line

penetrationDepthPowderCoeffB B from modified penetration depth best fit line
penetrationDepthSolidCoeffA A from modified penetration depth best fit line
penetrationDepthSolidCoeffB B from modified penetration depth best fit line
absorptivityPowderCoeffA A from absorptivity best fit line
absorptivityPowderCoeffB B from absorptivity best fit line
absorptivitySolidCoeffA A from absorptivity best fit line
absorptivitySolidCoeffB B from absorptivity best fit line
absorptivityMinimum 0.2*
absorptivityMaximum 0.8*
penetrationDepthMinimum 2.7E-5*
penetrationDepthMaximum 4.1E-4*

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 Edit Material Configuration File (.json) and Check Results

*Recommended value

To add a user defined material to the Additive application for future use, open the Materials Library
and click Import Material.

Navigate to upload the three appropriate files and click Save.

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

Now when you view the Materials Library listing, you will see your new user defined material. Click on
it to see details.

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 Edit Material Configuration File (.json) and Check Results

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

Run a few cases from your experimental set to evaluate the accuracy of the inputs before continuing
to use the settings throughout the product.

Use the Archive button to remove the user defined material from the Materials Library. Simulations
using this material will remain.

2.11. User Defined Material File Requirements

2.11.1. Material Configuration File
2.11.2. Material Lookup Table
2.11.3. Characteristic Width Lookup Table

2.11.1. Material Configuration File

Overview

The material configuration file contains information on mechanical properties, constant thermal
properties, and other parameters used in Additive Science. This file is read as part of the input when
running any simulation, but not every setting is used in every simulation.

Settings defined in the material configuration file are defined below:

Setting Definition Units Value

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 User Defined Material File Requirements

name Name for the material. Must be -

unique.
description Additional comments (optional) -
coreVersion Version of the current material -
configuration file. This can be
changed when updating new
versions of the same material.
solidThermalConductivityAtRoomTemperature Thermal conductivity of bulk W/m/K
material at room temperature (298
K)
solidDensityAtRoomTemperature Density of bulk material at room kg/m^3
temperature (298 K)
solidSpecificHeatAtRoomTemperature Specific heat of bulk material at J/kg/K
room temperature (298 K)
purgingGasConvectionCoefficient Convection coefficient between the - 12.5
solid and gas during processing
solidusTemperature Maximum temperature at which the K
material is completely solid
liquidusTemperature Minimum temperature at which the K
material is completely liquid
vaporizationTemperature Temperature at which material has K
completely changed from liquid to
vapor
thermalExpansionCoefficient Coefficient of thermal expansion. 1/K
elasticModulus Elastic modulus of build material. Pa
elasticModulusOfBase Elastic modulus of base material. Pa
poissonRatio Poisson ratio -
materialYieldStrength Yield strength Pa
supportYieldStrengthRatio Factor to reduce the yield strength -
and elastic modulus of support
material
anisotropicStrainCoefficientParallel Multiplier on the predicted strain in - 1.5
the direction that the laser is
scanning for the major fill rasters
anisotropicStrainCoefficientPerpendicular Multiplier on the predicted strain - 0.5
orthogonal to the direction that the
laser is scanning for the major fill
rasters and in the plane of the
surface of the build plate
anisotropicStrainCoefficientZ Multiplier on the predicted strain in - 1
the Z direction
hardeningFactor Factor relating the elastic modulus -
to the tangent modulus for
plasticity simulations (Tangent

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

Modulus =
elasticModulus*hardeningFactor )
nucleationConstantInterface Controls the heterogeneous 1/m/K^2 1000
nucleation rate (on existing solid
interfaces) during solidification for
the microstructure solver
nucleationConstantBulk Controls the homogenous 1/m^2/K^2 1000
nucleation rate (in bulk of the
microstructure simulation domain)
during solidification for the
microstructure solver
penetrationDepthPowderCoeffA Coefficients used in thermal -
penetrationDepthPowderCoeffB analyses to control absorptivity and
penetration depth. These settings
penetrationDepthSolidCoeffA are determined through tuning.
penetrationDepthSolidCoeffB
absorptivityPowderCoeffA
absorptivityPowderCoeffB
absorptivitySolidCoeffA
absorptivitySolidCoeffB
absorptivityMinimum 0.2*
absorptivityMaximum 0.8*
penetrationDepthMinimum 2.7E-5*
penetrationDepthMaximum 4.1E-4*
powderPackingDensity Density of powder material relative - 0.6*
to the solid
available True
key Unique name for the material. Must -
be 16 characters or fewer, contain
no spaces, and can be the same as
the "name."
thermalSimulationApproved True or false flag signifying whether - True
the material can be used for
thermal simulations.
microstructureSimulationApproved True or false flag signifying whether - False
the material can be used for
microstructure simulations.

*Recommended value

Format

These inputs are laid out in a .json file format with material properties held within the configuration
parameter. An example of this file is provided as MaterialConfigurationExample.json. When editing
values from the example or creating your own material configuration file, be sure to follow the json
format to avoid errors.

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 User Defined Material File Requirements

2.11.2. Material Lookup Table

Overview

The material lookup table contains temperature dependent thermal properties for the material. This
data is required by the Thermal Solver used in Additive Science simulations as well as the Thermal
Strain simulation type in Additive Print.

The temperature dependent properties consist of thermal conductivity, specific heat, and density for
an additive manufacturing material. In addition to properties for solid and liquid material, properties
for the powder state are specified through ratios for each property. For example, if the density of the
powder material is half that of the solid, a value of 0.5 would be provided for the Density Ratio.

Format

The material lookup file is a .csv file with seven columns representing Temperature (K), Thermal
Conductivity (W/m/K), Specific Heat (J/kg/K), Density (kg/m^3), Thermal Conductivity Ratio, Density
Ratio, and Specific Heat Ratio. An example of this file is provided as MaterialLookupExample.csv.

• Temperature should be formatted from 2K to 15000K in intervals of 2K.

• Thermal Conductivity Ratio values should be as follows:

– Ratio = 0.01 from 2K to 0.6 x the solidus temperature of the material

– Ratio = 0.4 from 0.6 x the solidus temperature to the liquidus temperature of the material

– Ratio = 1 from the liquidus temperature to 15000K.

• Density Ratio values should be as follows:

– Ratio = 0.6 from 2K to the liquidus temperature of the material. (0.6 is a recommended value.
It must correspond to powderPackingDensity in the material configuration file.)

– Ratio = 1 from the liquidus temperature to 15000K.

• Specific Heat Ratio should be 1.

2.11.3. Characteristic Width Lookup Table

Overview

The characteristic width lookup table is used to find characteristic widths for different parameter
combinations. This table is generated as part of the single bead tuning process and will be used to
help determine heat source penetration depth and absorptivity for all thermal simulations. The table
contains data points for characteristic width at different power and speed combinations.

Format

The characteristic width lookup table is in .csv format with columns for speed (m/s), power (W), and
characteristic width (m). Speeds and powers in the first two columns should span the range of possible
inputs for those two parameters. The power-speed combinations should be organized such that there

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Material Tuning Tool (Beta) to Create User Defined Materials

is a characteristic width value for each power at each speed, creating a rectilinear grid. An example
of this file is provided as CharacterisiticWidthExample.csv.

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 Part 3: Beta Features for Workbench Additive
Maraging Steel Transformation Extension (Beta) (p. 41)

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Chapter 1: Maraging Steel Transformation Extension
(Beta)
Use these instructions to use the Ansys-supplied properties of maraging steel in an AM process simulation
in Workbench Additive. To access this capability, you will need to add and load the MaragingSteelTrans-
formation extension, which is a beta feature starting at release 2020 R1. Contact your Ansys ACE engineer
if you have any questions or issues.

Maraging steels are iron-nickel-cobalt alloys with additions of molybdenum, titanium and aluminum.
They are used in industrial applications requiring high strength and toughness without losing ductility.
When used in an additive manufacturing process, the material undergoes a solid state phase change
from austenite to martensite as it cools down. To capture the phenomenon appropriately in simulation
software, the material properties must account for the phase change.

1.1. Setting Up the MaragingSteelTransformation Extension

This is a one-time-only step.

1. Download the MaragingSteelTransformation.zip file from this site.

2. Extract the zipped files. You should have the following folder structure:
MaragingSteelTransformation
doc
material
src

3. Open Workbench.

4. Click Extensions > ACT Start Page > Manage Extensions

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Maraging Steel Transformation Extension (Beta)

5. Click the gear icon (Manage your settings) in the upper, right corner to add a new folder for the
extension. Click Add Folder. Navigate to the "src” folder location of the MaragingSteelTransformation
files that you downloaded. Click Ok.

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 Setting Up the MaragingSteelTransformation Extension

6. You will see the new extension in the Extension Manager. From the MaragingSteelTransformation
box drop-down, click Load extension. We recommend you also then click Load as default from
the drop-down so that the extension will be loaded whenever you open Workbench. (Extensions
that load by default appear with a "Default" label in the upper right corner of the box in the Extension
Manager.)

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Maraging Steel Transformation Extension (Beta)

7. Back in the Workbench Project tab, begin a simulation, as usual, by setting up a linked Transient
Thermal-to-Static Structural simulation.

8. In the Transient Thermal analysis, double-click the Engineering Data cell and then choose the En-
gineering Data Sources tab. Scroll to the bottom of the Engineering Data Sources list and click the
button to add an existing data source from file. Navigate to the folder location of the Maraging-
SteelTransformation files that you downloaded. Select the "material" folder and then the AM
Maraging Steel 2020R2.xml file and click Open.

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 Running the Simulation with Maraging Steel

1.2. Running the Simulation with Maraging Steel

Once you have loaded the extension and added the data source into Engineering Data, perform the
following steps any time you want to perform an AM process simulation with maraging steel:

1. Begin your simulation in Workbench, as usual, by setting up a linked Transient Thermal-to-Static

Structural simulation.

2. In the Transient Thermal analysis, double-click the Engineering Data cell and then choose the En-
gineering Data Sources tab. Select the new AM Maraging Steel 2020R2 data source and then add
the material to your simulation by clicking the plus sign to the right of Maraging Steel (Austenite)
2020R2.

Click the Project tab to go back to your project view in Workbench.

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Maraging Steel Transformation Extension (Beta)

3. Continue the simulation, as usual, by attaching geometry, opening Mechanical, and identifying the
additive geometries (AM Process object). Assign the Maraging Steel (Austenite) 2020R2 properties
to the build and the baseplate in the structure tree.

4. Perform all the remaining steps for an AM process simulation, as usual. Before solving, right-click
Static Structural and Insert>Maraging Steel Transformation (Beta). This adds a new object to the
tree, as shown here:

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 Known Limitations and Restrictions

The room temperature martensite material properties are used after each layer cools. You may
change the room temperature property values as desired, if, for example, you have tested tensile
bars and you have different values.

5. Solve the simulation.

6. When reviewing results, you may see some expansion where the build goes through the phase
transformation, which may cause slightly negative deformation after cutoff.

1.3. Known Limitations and Restrictions

Limitations associated with the use of the MaragingSteelTransformation extension include:

• The extension works for the AM process simulation steps of build, cooldown, and base/support re-
moval. It does not work with a heat treatment step. Do not use this maraging steel extension to
model heat treatment.

• This extension is not compatible with non-build elements.

• The MaragingSteelTransformation extension uses a user-solution subroutine. This requires Shared

Memory Parallel (SMP) processing, rather than Distributed Memory Parallel (DMP) processing. This
means your simulation could take significantly longer, depending on the number of cores you use.

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Maraging Steel Transformation Extension (Beta)

• Phase change transformation is simplified as a step-change at approximately 200°C, and the extension
assumes that the temperature drops below that for each layer before the next layer is added. Addi-
tionally, we assume that when the next layer above is added, the layer below reheats but does not
transform back into austenite.

• To properly capture the expansion of the material, more substeps between heating are required. This
extension defaults to 5 (as opposed to the typical 2), but you may want to further increase this value
to better capture the phenomenon.

• The original material used for the simulation (the provided Maraging Steel (Austenite) 2020R2) should
match martensite room temperature properties at low temperatures.

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