The Effect of Process Parameters on the Temperature and Stress Fields in Directed Energy Deposition Inconel 690 Alloy

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology has the advantages of designability, short process times, high flexibility, etc., making it especially suitable for manufacturing complex high-performance components for high-end industrial systems. However, the intensive temperature gradients caused by the rapid heating and cooling processes of AM can generate high levels of residual stresses, which directly affect the precision and serviceability of the components. Taking Inconel 690 alloy, which is widely used in nuclear power plants, as the research object, a thermo-coupled mechanical model of temperature field and residual stress field of directed energy deposition (DED) of Inconel 690 was established based on ABAQUS 2019 finite element software to study the influence of process parameters on the temperature history and the distribution of residual stresses in the DED process. The experimental results show that the peak temperature of each layer in the fabrication process increases with the increase in laser power and preheating temperature, and decreases with the increase in scanning speed and interlayer dwell time. Substrate preheating only has a large effect on the peak temperature of the first four layers. Residual stresses are mainly concentrated in the upper and middle parts, the bottom of the substrate, and the sides combined with the substrate, and the residual stresses increase with the increasing laser power and decrease with the increasing interlayer dwell time. Decreasing laser power, longer dwell time, higher preheating temperature, and appropriate scanning speed are beneficial for the reduction in residual stresses in Inconel 690 components. This research has important significance for the process design and residual stress modulation in the additive manufacturing of Inconel 690 alloy.