Additive manufacturing systems and methods including build characteristic contribution profiles

A method of fabricating a component using an additive manufacturing system including a build platform configured to receive a particulate, and a consolidation device configured to consolidate the particulate to form the component, the method comprising:

• generating a model of the component, the model including a plurality of elements arranged to represent the component and a region of interest, the plurality of elements forming at least one layer, the layer including at least a first element and a second element;
• applying a modeled load to the first element of the plurality of elements;
• generating a build characteristic contribution profile based on the modeled load, the build characteristic contribution profile representing a modeled effect of the modeled load applied to the first element on a build characteristic of a location within the region of interest, wherein the build characteristic contribution profile is determined for the first element by running a first simulation with the modeled load applied to the first element to determine a first build characteristic value and a second simulation without the modeled load applied to the first element to determine a second build characteristic value, wherein the build characteristic contribution profile is a difference between the first build characteristic value of the first simulation and the second build characteristic value of the second simulation;
• and
• determining a build parameter for operation of the additive manufacturing system based on the build characteristic contribution profile, the operation including operating the consolidation device according to the determined build parameter to consolidate the particulate to form the component.

A build characteristic contribution evaluation module for an additive manufacturing system including a build platform configured to receive a particulate, and a consolidation device configured to consolidate the particulate to form a component, the build characteristic contribution evaluation module comprising at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, said at least one processor programmed to:

• generate a model of a component, the model including a plurality of elements arranged to represent the component and a region of interest, the plurality of elements forming at least one layer, the layer including at least a first element and a second element;
• apply a modeled load to the first element of the plurality of elements;
• generate a build characteristic contribution profile based on the modeled load, the build characteristic contribution profile representing a modeled effect of the modeled load applied to the first element on a build characteristic of a location within the region of interest, wherein the build characteristic contribution profile is determined for the first element by running a first simulation with the modeled load applied to the first element to determine a first build characteristic value and a second simulation without the modeled load applied to the first element to determine a second build characteristic value, wherein the build characteristic contribution profile is a difference between the first build characteristic value of the first simulation and the second build characteristic value of the second simulation;
• and
• determine a build parameter for operation of the additive manufacturing system based at least partly on the build characteristic contribution profile, the operation including operating the consolidation device according to the determined build parameter to consolidate the particulate to form the component.