Numerical analysis of stress and distortion in bulk deposited structures of Inconel 625 alloy: Influence of deposition strategies

This study explores the numerical analysis of effective stress and distortion (dimensional variations) in bulk deposited structures of Inconel 625 alloy with seven different deposition strategies using wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) process. Due to the challenges in detecting in-situ stress changes during bulk deposition, numerical analysis is employed to approximate stress distribution. The goal is to investigate stress and distortion (dimensional variations) in the build direction (BD), longitudinal and transverse directions, and understand their impact on anisotropy and asymmetry. The findings reveal distinct patterns in effective stress, with initial decrease in bottom, followed by a gradual increase at the middle and rapid increase thereafter, regardless of deposition strategies. Parallel and contour deposition strategies exhibit lower effective stress compared to spiral strategies. Distortion (dimensional variations) along the BD increases with height, and parallel strategies result in higher distortion. The parallel strategies show increasing distortion from one edge to the other, while spiral and contour strategies lead to high distortion at the center. The parallel and contour deposition strategies exhibit higher compressive stress at the bottom and middle compared to the spiral strategies. Anisotropy analysis indicates higher stress anisotropy in parallel and contour patterns, but lower distortion anisotropy compared to spiral patterns. Empirical equations are developed to understand the relationship between stress, distortion (dimensional variations) and hardness. The study suggests that higher effective stress can adversely affect material yielding behavior. This study undertakes a comparison between FEA and analytical model which reveals a close alignment in the residual stress distributions in the build direction.