Thermal and stress modeling of multi-material laser processing

Three-dimensional finite element modeling has been carried out to investiga te the temperature field in the processing of multiple material components using a moving laser beam. Transient and residual stresses as well as disto rtion of the component have also been analyzed. Effects of laser processing conditions such as fabrication sequences, laser scanning patterns and scan ning rates have been investigated. It is found that the temperature distrib ution, transient stress, residual stress and distortion of a multi-material component are dependent on the laser processing conditions as well as the material properties, especially the thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion. Implications of these results on laser fabrication of m ultiple materials are discussed. (C) 2001 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.