Reducing Residual Stress and Distortion in Metal AM using Novel Stress Compensation Software

Metal additive manufacturing (AM), particularly laser powder bed fusion (LPBF), enables production of complex, high-performance components but suffers from residual stress that leads to distortion, cracking, and costly post-processing. While prior advances such as Ulendo HC (heat compensation) have demonstrated substantial reduction of thermal gradients by optimizing laser scan paths, they primarily targeted thermal uniformity and did not fully account for the mechanical constraints that drive stress buildup.

Ulendo SC (stress compensation) builds upon this foundation with a next-generation physics-based optimization engine that directly minimizes residual stress and deformation during printing. Unlike commercial solutions that rely on heuristic scan patterns, CAD pre-distortion, or closed-loop thermal feedback requiring sensors, Ulendo SC predicts stress evolution using a fast thermomechanical model to intelligently reorder scan sequences before printing. This model integrates thermal history, mechanical boundary conditions, and geometry-dependent stiffness to determine stress-aware scan paths.

Early validation of Ulendo SC has shown over 30% reduction in part distortion compared to Ulendo HC. Current research led by the University of Michigan in collaboration with Ulendo Technologies Inc., is extending these capabilities to full 3D LPBF builds. The ultimate goal is to deliver a computationally efficient, slicer-integrated software tool that enables manufacturers to produce stress-minimized parts without modifying machines or adding sensors.

This presentation will detail the scientific principles behind stress compensation, demonstrate comparative results between HC and SC, and discuss the implications for industrial AM productivity, reliability, and cost reduction. The audience will gain insight into how software-driven physics modeling and optimization is reshaping the landscape of process control for metal AM.