On Mesoscopic Surface Formation in Metal Laser Powder-Bed Fusion Process

Authors

Shanshan Zhang, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Subin Shrestha
Kevin Chou

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

2-2021

Abstract

During Laser Powder-Bed Fusion (LPBF), the surface formation of the selected-melted powder-bed region is subject to a melting-solidification process along the line-scans and sensitive to the process conditions. This study focuses on the surface formation of mesoscopic line-scans in LPBF and aims to investigate the effect of different process parameters, such as laser power and layer thickness, on the track morphology and surface roughness. For this purpose, single-track scans were produced by an LPBF system and then were characterized under a white-light interferometer. A discrete element method and 3D thermo-fluid modeling were applied to simulate powder spreading and laser scanning. The results show that the line-scan surface morphology and the surface roughness of the quasi-steady regions on the line scans are significantly dependent on the process conditions both longitudinally and transversely. As a result of continuous melting in the line scans, increasing laser power and decreasing layer thickness lead to smoother surface finish, respectively.

Comments

Staff publication. © 2021 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. https://rdcu.be/cWORv

Recommended Citation

Zhang, S., Shrestha, S., Chou, K. (2021). On Mesoscopic Surface Formation in Metal Laser Powder-Bed Fusion Process. In: TMS 2021 150th Annual Meeting & Exhibition Supplemental Proceedings. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65261-6_14

Publication Title

TMS 2021 150th Annual Meeting & Exhibition Supplemental Proceedings

DOI

10.1007/978-3-030-65261-6_14