Anisotropic elastic property estimation of powder-bed-fusion-printed metal for ultrasonic tools

Abstract Metal three-dimensional printers utilizing powder bed fusion (PBF) hold promise for the development of novel ultrasonic transducers with complex geometries especially designed by topology optimization. Since the printed metal components exhibit anisotropy, an anisotropic elasticity tensor is required for finite element analysis and optimization. In this study, we fabricate test pieces of SUS316L stainless steel, which is commonly used in PBF and ultrasonic transducers. We estimate all elements of the stiffness tensor by utilizing the mechanical resonant characteristics of the test pieces. Anisotropic Young’s moduli and resonance quality factors are measured using a laser Doppler velocimeter for the longitudinal vibration mode that is noncontact-driven via electromagnetic acoustic transduction. Poisson’s ratios and shear moduli are estimated using a point excitation source driving the longitudinal and torsional modes, respectively. The obtained anisotropic elasticity tensor is verified using the bending vibration frequency and the vibration distribution of the PBF-fabricated ultrasonic tool.