3D Microstructure analysis (BETA)

Warning

Beta Features Disclaimer

• This is beta documentation for one or more beta software features.

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This example shows how to use PyAdditive to determine the three-dimensional microstructure for a sample coupon with given material and machine parameters.

Units are SI (m, kg, s, K) unless otherwise noted.

Perform required import and connect

Perform the required import and connect to the Additive service.

import pyvista as pv

from ansys.additive.core import (
    Additive,
    AdditiveMachine,
    Microstructure3DInput,
    SimulationError,
)

# Beta features must be enabled to use the 3D microstructure simulation.
additive = Additive(enable_beta_features=True)

Select material

Select a material. You can use the materials_list() method to obtain a list of available materials.

print("Available material names: {}".format(additive.materials_list()))

Available material names: ['17-4PH', 'IN625', 'AlSi10Mg', '316L', 'IN718', 'CoCr', 'Al357', 'Ti64']

You can obtain the parameters for a single material by passing a name from the materials list to the material() method.

material = additive.material("IN625")

Specify machine parameters

Specify machine parameters by first creating an AdditiveMachine object and then assigning the desired values. All values are in SI units (m, kg, s, K) unless otherwise noted.

machine = AdditiveMachine()

# Show available parameters
print(machine)

AdditiveMachine
laser_power: 195 W
scan_speed: 1.0 m/s
heater_temperature: 80 °C
layer_thickness: 5e-05 m
beam_diameter: 0.0001 m
starting_layer_angle: 57 °
layer_rotation_angle: 67 °
hatch_spacing: 0.0001 m
slicing_stripe_width: 0.01 m

Set laser power and scan speed

Set the laser power and scan speed.

machine.scan_speed = 1  # m/s
machine.laser_power = 500  # W

Specify inputs for 3D microstructure simulation

Specify microstructure inputs.

input = Microstructure3DInput(
    machine=machine,
    material=material,
    sample_size_x=0.0001,  # in meters (.1 mm)
    sample_size_y=0.0001,
    sample_size_z=0.0001,
)

Run simulation

Use the simulate() method of the additive object to run the simulation. The returned object is either a Microstructure3DSummary object or a SimulationError object.

summary = additive.simulate(input)
if isinstance(summary, SimulationError):
    raise Exception(summary.message)

Plot 3D grain visualization

The summary object includes a VTK file describing the 3D grain structure. The VTK file contains scalar data sets GrainNumber, Phi0_(deg), Phi1_(deg), Phi2_(deg), and Temperatures.

# Plot the Phi0 data of the 3D grain structure
cmap = "coolwarm"
ms3d = pv.read(summary.grain_3d_vtk)
ms3d.plot(scalars="Phi0_(deg)", cmap=cmap)

# Add a cut plane to the plot
plotter = pv.Plotter()
plotter.add_mesh_clip_plane(ms3d, scalars="Phi0_(deg)", cmap=cmap)
plotter.show()

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Print average grain sizes

The summary object includes the average grain sizes in the XY, XZ, and YZ planes.

print("Average grain size in XY plane: {} µm".format(summary.xy_average_grain_size))
print("Average grain size in XZ plane: {} µm".format(summary.xz_average_grain_size))
print("Average grain size in YZ plane: {} µm".format(summary.yz_average_grain_size))

Average grain size in XY plane: 82.2068010926013 µm
Average grain size in XZ plane: 84.43042220348966 µm
Average grain size in YZ plane: 84.81873023167736 µm