nLight AFX Heat Source

This SS316L case represents an nLight AFX beam as a weighted combination of inner and outer Gaussian rings with projected axial distributions.

Plan view of the nLight AFX SS316L temperature field with solidus and liquidus contours. — SS316L top-surface temperature for the nLight AFX profile. The black and white contours denote the 1471 K solidus and 1709 K liquidus, respectively.

Physical setup

SS316L properties from $ADDITIVEFOAM_ETC/materials/SS316L.cfg.
One nLightAFX heat source composed of inner and outer Gaussian rings.
Seven characterized beam modes, Index0 through Index6.
A projected axial distribution with transient source-depth updating.

Run

cp -r "$ADDITIVEFOAM_TUTORIALS/nLightAFX" "$FOAM_RUN/nLightAFX"
cd "$FOAM_RUN/nLightAFX"
./Allrun

Important inputs

File	Purpose
`constant/nLightAFX.cfg`	Defines the seven characterized beam modes
`constant/heatSourceDict`	Selects the mode, absorption model, source sampling, and AMR model
`constant/scanPath`	Beam position, time, and power
`constant/transportProperties`	Includes the SS316L material properties
`system/controlDict`	Run controls and optional Function Objects

Workflow

constant/nLightAFX.cfg defines Index0 through Index6. The heat-source dictionary includes that file and expands one mode:

#include "nLightAFX.cfg"

nLightAFXCoeffs
{
    $Index6;
    transient true;
    nPoints   (10 10 10);
}

Change only $Index6 to another defined index to select a different characterized profile. Each mode provides lateral dimensions, outer-ring fraction alpha, and radius, sigma, A, and B for both components.

Lower modes are more centre-weighted; higher modes place a larger share of power in the outer ring. The scan path sets total incident power. alpha partitions that power between the profile components and is distinct from the material absorptivity. The transient closure updates source depth using the local liquidus isotherm.

Outputs

Open the reconstructed case in ParaView and visualize T, alpha.solid, and qDot to compare the selected inner- and outer-ring intensity distribution with the resulting temperature and phase fields.

Absorbed power, melt-pool dimensions, solidification data, and ExaCA histories are covered by the baseline output workflows.