Towards understanding side-skin surface characteristics in laser powder bed fusion. Issue 15 (14th August 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Patel, Sagar; Rogalsky, Allan; Vlasea, Mihaela
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials research. Volume 35:Issue 15(2020)
• Page Start: 2055
• Page End: 2064
• Publication Date: 2020-08-14
• Subjects: laser, -- morphology, -- alloy; Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 620.1105
• DOI: 10.1557/jmr.2020.125
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0884-2914

Abstract

Abstract: Abstract : Additively manufactured parts produced via laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) have limitations in their applications due to post-processing requirements caused by high surface roughness. The characteristics of side-skin surfaces are generally assumed to be dominated by adhered powder particles. This work aims to analyze and interpret the effects of LPBF processing parameters on side-skin surfaces. As such, this work has two sections to investigate the effect of (i) core and (ii) border LPBF parameters on side-skin surface roughness for Ti–6Al–4V. The findings show that there is a robust correlation between both core and border LPBF parameters on side-skin surface morphologies. In terms of core LPBF parameters, an interaction between laser power and beam velocity is shown to influence side-skin surface roughness, resulting in S a values in the range of 11–26 μm. Additionally, a preliminary investigation into the effect of melting mode phenomena at the border leads to a possibility of obtaining S a values of <10 μm, with reduced effects of adhered and partially fused powder.