Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA
Date of Award
8-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Manufacturing Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Jianzhi Li
Second Advisor
Dr. Waseem Haider
Third Advisor
Dr. Rajiv Nambiar
Abstract
Selective Laser Melting (SLM), an Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology, enables the production of complex structured metal products. Aluminum alloys are used in SLM as high-strength lightweight materials for weight reduction in structural components. Previous investigations report high laser powers (300 W) and slow scanning speeds (500 mm/s) to process aluminum alloys under SLM. This research investigates the SLM processing of Al-Fe alloy by utilizing metastable Al5Fe2 powder system produced by mechanical alloying. Metastable systems are thermodynamically activated with internal energy that can generate an energy shortcut when processing under SLM. The optimum laser power, scan speeds and scan distances were investigated by test series experiments. Results indicate that metastable Al5Fe2 alloy can be processed and stabilized under a 200 W laser scanning and a relative high scanning speed of 1000 mm/s. Thus, the internal energy of metastable powder contributes in reducing laser energy for SLM process for Al alloys.
Granting Institution
University of Texas-Pan American
Comments
Copyright 2015 Hugo Eliud Montiel. All Rights Reserved.
https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/investigation-slective-laser-melting-mecanically/docview/1730212866/se-2?accountid=7119