A MATLAB-based simulation tool for fast and efficient control system investigation for laser-powder bed fusion process

Additive manufacturing, particularly the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) process, requires precise control of melt-pool dynamics to ensure consistent part quality and repeatability. However, the lack of fast and accessible control-oriented simulation tools limits the ability to design, test, and validate advanced control strategies. This paper presents a modular and computationally efficient MATLAB/Simulink-based simulation framework developed specifically for L-PBF process control studies. The proposed tool estimates melt-pool temperature and cross-sectional area while accounting for track-to-track and layer-to-layer heat accumulation effects. The presented simulation platform enables rapid development, integration and tuning of control algorithms, such as proportional–integral–derivative (PID), feedforward, machine learning based, and many other methods, within closed-loop configurations. Validation against Rosenthal’s analytical solution and the heat-balance model demonstrates good accuracy, as well as a greater than 500-fold improvement in computational speed compared to comparable finite element simulations.