Numerical simulation for electron beam selective melting PBF additive manufacturing of molybdenum

Molybdenum is a newly added material in additive manufacturing material cabinet, and it is under the spotlight owing to its crucial applications. The high-energy electron beam selective melting (EBSM) process is supposed to be a promising technique for molybdenum printing because of its vacuum environment. This paper presents EBSM numerical process simulation for molybdenum on macro- and mesoscale established with exclusive powder material modeling. Experimentally determined, process parameters are implemented in 3D macro- and 2D mesoscale models for a profound process insight. Primarily molybdenum powder material model is established, and a multi-track FEM simulation is performed to predict melt pool configuration, temperature field and phase transformation. Next, powder consolidation mechanism, side surface roughness, porosity, and voids are investigated through a CFD model, where the molybdenum particles are explicitly considered from the EBSM process viewpoint. Results proved the effectiveness of the numerical simulation for detailed EBSM process understanding for molybdenum material.