Repurposing metal additive manufacturing support structures for reduction of residual stress deformation

Support structures in additive manufacturing (AM) have traditionally been implemented to address process restrictions. This study repurposed the supports as design tools to be used to reduce deformation from residual stress in metal AM prints. Four geometric features were selected via industry interviews and simulations, and experimental prints were used to verify the use of new, novel supports addressing both mechanical and process limit needs. These supports reduced maximum deformation by 14.6% in a validation part simulation that contained all four features. Guidelines were created to present the new design envelopes for each geometric feature to aid in the growth of support structure documentation in AM. Using supports to reduce deformation presents a new design tool to AM engineers that allows them to retain critical part geometry and only change support design.