Additive manufacturing

DED WLAM additive manufacturing is faced with an economic imperative: to manufacture large-scale functional parts that conform to specifications the first time (metallurgical quality, geometry, etc.). DOUBLE COEUR carries out thermomechanical simulation to ensure that materials are properly controlled and failures anticipated. Engineers simulate thermal propagation in an object to be manufactured, then deduce its mechanical behavior by calculating deformations and stresses.
Our modeling team retrieves the CAD of the part to be manufactured and integrates its thermal characteristics (thermal conductivity of the material, mass heat capacity, coefficient of thermal expansion). Then, using our calculation software, it simulates thermal propagation in the part by applying thermal changes representative of the environment. Once the state has stabilized, we identify the thermal field generated and then estimate the deformation of the part that will create stresses and lead to breakage.
We can simulate all possible temperature ranges and deduce the best process parameters to minimize deformation. What’s more, we can virtually test different designs to determine which will behave more reliably than others. In this way, DOUBLE COEUR limits the number of laser machine trials required to get the part right the first time.