Numerical Simulation on Electron Beam Smelting Temperature Field of Novel Ni-Co-Based Superalloy

In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) transient thermal model for electron beam smelting (EBS) of a novel Ni-Co-based superalloy was developed using ANSYS FLUENT software. The model incorporated temperature-dependent material thermal-physical parameters and a rotating Gaussian body heat source. Parameters for the moving electron beam were also considered in the model as the user-defined functions (UDFs). The main objective of this research was to gain a better understanding of the thermal behavior of the molten pool during the EBS process. Experiments were conducted using the SEBM-30A EB furnace. The average surface temperature of the molten pool calculated from volatilization loss of Ni element during the EBS process was compared with the average surface temperature of the molten pool monitored by numerical simulation. The results show that the errors are 0.47 and 7.15 pct at EBS power of 10 and 14 kW, respectively. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experiment results. The temperature of molten pool rises with increasing smelting power, and its depth and width also increase. The temperature gradually rises along the z-direction, and the highest temperature occurs 2 mm below the top surface of the ingot. The relationship between average surface temperature of molten pool and smelting power was obtained. Overall, our research provides significant insights into the thermal behavior of the molten pool during the EBS process. The model can be used to optimize the EBS process to reduce costs and produce high-quality ingots, and provides the basis for modeling the preparation of large ingots from EBS.