Additive manufacturing of metals

Unlike conventional materials removal methods, additive manufacturing (AM) is based on a novel materials incremental manufacturing philosophy. Additive manufacturing implies layer by layer shaping and consolidation of powder feedstock to arbitrary configurations, normally using a computer controlled laser. The current development focus of AM is to produce complex shaped functional metallic components, including metals, alloys and metal matrix composites (MMCs), to meet demanding requirements from aerospace, defence, automotive and biomedical industries. Laser sintering (LS), laser melting (LM) and laser metal deposition (LMD) are presently regarded as the three most versatile AM processes. Laser based AM processes generally have a complex non-equilibrium physical and chemical metallurgical nature, which is material and process dependent. The influence of material characteristics and processing conditions on metallurgical mechanisms and resultant microstructural and mechanical properties of AM proc...

Laser additive manufacturing of metallic components: materials, processes and mechanisms

Leu-M

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a particular rapid prototyping, 3D printing, or Additive Manufacturing (AM) technique designed to use high power-density laser to melt and fuse metallic powders. A component is built by selectively melting and fusing powders within and between layers. The SLM technique is also commonly known as direct selective laser sintering, LaserCusing, and direct metal laser sintering, and this technique has been proven to produce near net-shape parts up to 99.9% relative density. This enables the process to build near full density functional parts and has viable economic benefits. Recent developments of fibre optics and high-power laser have also enabled SLM to process different metallic materials, such as copper, aluminium, and tungsten. Similarly, this has also opened up research opportunities in SLM of ceramic and composite materials. The review presents the SLM process and some of the common physical phenomena associated with this AM technology. It then focuses on the following a...

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Review of selective laser melting : materials and applications

Selective laser melting of iron-based powder

Finite Element Simulation of Selective Laser Melting process considering Optical Penetration Depth of laser in powder bed

Part and material properties in selective laser melting of metals

Numerical investigation on mechanical properties of cellular lattice structures fabricated by fused deposition modeling

When a laser beam scans once across the surface of a metallic powder bed, the resulting track may be continuous with a crescent or an elliptic cross-section, irregularly broken, balled or only partially melted. This paper reports what laser powers and scan speeds lead to what types of track, for a CO2 laser beam focused to 0.55 mm and 1.1 mm diameters, scanning over beds made from M2 and H13 tool steel and 314S-HC stainless steel powders. Beds have been made with particle size ranges from 300 μm to 150 μm, from 150 μm to 75 μm, from 75 μm to 38 μm, and less than 38 μm. Measurements are also reported of bed physical properties that are used in a finite element model to predict melt pool dimensions and temperatures. Boundaries between regions of different track formation are explained in terms of melt surface temperature gradients, melt pool length-diameter ratio instabilities, and transitions from partial to complete melting. Implications for building metal parts in powder beds without supports are...

Selective laser sintering (melting) of stainless and tool steel powders: Experiments and modelling:

Previous reported work on the selective laser melting of a H13 tool steel powder bed surface has shown that there is a scan speed range in which the layer mass increases/fluctuates with increasing speed. This paper expands the investigation towards M2 tool steel and 316L stainless steel powders to identify if they reveal similar behaviours. Wide ranges of scan spacings and scan speeds have been examined, at selected laser powers. Furthermore, the masses of the layers have been compared with those predicted from an existing finite element thermal model. It has been found that at a constant laser power, the variation of mass with scan speed is much less than might be expected from a constant assumed absorptivity into a powder bed.

Mohsen Badrossamay

Papers

Finite Element Simulation of Selective Laser Melting process considering Optical Penetration Depth of laser in powder bed

Part and material properties in selective laser melting of metals

Numerical investigation on mechanical properties of cellular lattice structures fabricated by fused deposition modeling

Selective laser sintering (melting) of stainless and tool steel powders: Experiments and modelling:

Further studies in selective laser melting of stainless and tool steel powders