Additive manufacturing simulations: An approach based on space partitioning and dynamic 3D mesh adaptation

Simulation is one of the most widely used methods for process optimization towards improved part quality in Additive Manufacturing (AM), particularly for metal parts. However, due to the nature of the AM processes and the complex phenomena that occur, simulations that are capable of providing a detailed overview of the physical mechanisms demand considerable computational resources and time. In this study, a numerical approach is presented, which can be applied to any implicit numerical thermal simulation for AM, allowing for a significant decrease in computational time (higher than 70%) with minimal impact on accuracy. This is achieved by combining space partitioning, enabled by a boundary condition that was developed, with dynamic mesh adaptation in the x-, y-, and z-axis. The methodology is described in detail and both the decrease in computational time and the accuracy of the developed approach are validated in a computational case study, as well as using experimental results.