Application of image based finite element analysis for mechanical characterization of materials processed by direct energy deposition technology

Abstract

The main focus of this study is to analyze the elastic properties of two different additively manufactured materials. To this end, a cobalt chromium (CoCr) metal alloy sample and a tungsten carbide-17% cobalt (WC-17Co) cermet specimen were both fabricated by the direct energy deposition (DED) process and were examined in this study. A comparative study between the results obtained from the application of numerical and analytical techniques versus the experimental results could show the accuracy of these techniques for estimation of elastic properties of the samples. A conventionally manufactured CoCr alloy and WC-17Co samples with similar composition was subjected to the same analysis for the purpose of validation of the results. The object oriented finite element analysis (OOF) technique provided acceptable results for the DED processed CoCr sample, but was unsuccessful in the estimation of the elastic behavior of WC-Co DED sample due to its inhomogeneous microstructure.