Effect of Powder Bed Fusion Process Parameters on Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of FeCrNi MEA: An Atomistic Study

In our study, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) have been conducted on equimolar FeNiCr medium entropy alloy (MEA) powders. With the development of newer LPBF technologies capable of printing at the microscale, an even deeper understanding of the underlying atomistic effects of the process parameters on the microstructural and mechanical properties of the manufactured FeNiCr MEA products is required. In accordance with previous literature, the parameters of the LPBF process have been systematically varied, including layer resolution from 1 to 6, laser power from 100 µW to 220 µW, bed temperature from 300 to 600 K, and laser scan speed from 0.5 Å/ps to 0.0625 Å/ps. Consistent with prior macroscopic experimental findings, the atomistic results suggest that additive manufacturing using thinner layers imparts higher ultimate tensile strength (UTS) than fabricating with thicker layers. The latter, however, requires a shorter process time but induces keyhole defect formation if the laser-induced temperature is not sufficiently high enough. Increasing the temperature proves useful in mitigating this problem. Enhancement of UTS for the multi-rowed powders has been observed by raising the substrate temperature to 600 K, slowing down the laser or by raising the power to 160 µW during production. Beyond certain critical power, however, the UTS of the product diminishes due to the emergence of multiple vacancies. These results will help researchers to find a good balance between the production speed and strength of additive manufactured products at the nanoscale. Graphical Abstract