Through the secondary development of the Flow-3 D software
the numerical simulation of the three-dimensional multi-pass selective laser melting(SLM) process was realized. The velocity field
temperature field and morphological characteristics of the molten pool were analyzed and compared with the simulation results of the finite element method and the smooth particle hydrodynamics method. The effects of different laser power on the depth and width of the molten pool were also investigated. The results indicate that the simulation of temperature field in the SLM process by secondary-developed Flow-3 D software present accurate. Marangoni convection plays an important role in the formation of the molten pool morphology during the SLM process
and the length and width of the molten pool is increased with laser power increase.