Modelling the asymmetric tension–compression properties of additively manufactured alloys using continuum damage mechanics

Additively manufactured parts often comprise internal porosities due to the manufacturing process, which needs to be considered in modelling their mechanical behaviour. It was experimentally shown that additively manufactured parts’ tensile and compressive mechanical properties are different for various metallic alloys. In this study, isotropic continuum damage mechanics is used to model additively manufactured alloys’ tension and compression behaviours. Compressive stress components can shrink discontinuities present in additively manufactured alloys. Therefore, the crack closure effect was employed to describe different behaviours during uniaxial tension and compression tests. A finite element model embedded in an ABAQUS’s UMAT format was developed to account for the isotropic continuum damage mechanics model. The numerical results of tension and compression tests were compared with experimental observations for additively manufactured maraging steel, AlSi10Mg and Ti-6Al-4V. Stress–strain curves in tension and compression of these alloys were obtained using the continuum damage mechanics model and compared well with the experimental results.