Study on track width of various curvature angles in laser powder bed fusion deposition

• Published in: Progress in additive manufacturing 2024-04, Vol.9 (2), p.231-236
• Main Authors: Simson, D., Subbu, S. Kanmani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Engineering; Lasers; Machines; Manufacturing; Materials Science; Optical Devices; Optics; Photonics; Processes; Short Communication
• ISSN: 2363-9512; 2363-9520
• DOI: 10.1007/s40964-023-00444-5

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process is used for fabricating complex geometries of metallic parts ranging from macro to micro size. Fabrication of a part with various curvature angles is always a great challenge due to variation in the deposition of material at the curvature. The process parameters of contour exposure of the printing part play an important role in geometrical accuracy. Hence, In this study, the contour of various curvatures ( 30 ∘ , 60 ∘ , 90 ∘ , & 120 ∘ ) is analyzed for various laser power and scanning speed. It is found that track width at the curvature is increased from 17 % to 160 % on decreasing the angle between tracks from 120 ∘ to 30 ∘ compared to the width at the track. The variation in width at curvature and track is occurred due to an increase in supplied energy because of deceleration and acceleration of the laser source at the curvature. Further, the width at the curvature gets wider during the subsequent layer deposition and increases with linear energy density due to remelting and spreading at the curvatures.