The mechanism of epitaxy loss in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing is studied through single crystal laser scan experiments. Results suggests that contrary to currently accepted mechanism of stray grain nucleation, epitaxy loss occurs through gradual accumulation of crystallographic misorientation from a combination of plastic deformation and morphological changes in solidification dendrites. Highly disparate misorientation distribution was observed inside and outside the melt pool. Although alignment with cell/colony boundaries was often observed inside the melt pool, misorientation frequently develops independent of the solidification features, indicating combined effect of solidification and residual stress-induced plasticity. On the other hand, a gradual decaying misorientation develops approximately 100 micrometers outside the melt pool, which indicates residual stress as the dominant mechanism. Interaction of multiple melt pools causes a superposition of misorientation fields, yielding random occurrences of high misorientation boundaries that lead to formation of new grains.
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