On the Effect of Volumetric Energy Density on the Characteristics of 3D-Printed Metals and Alloys

Abstract

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is a specific 3D printing technique under Additive Manufacturing (AM) metal technologies. SLM is considered to be a precise rapid AM process combined with a powder bed system for producing customized metal products with a tailored microstructure and shape. Differences in the printing parameters can lead to differences in the surface as well as macroscopic mechanical characteristics of the manufactured parts and components. This work aims at quantifying the effect of the Volumetric Energy Density (VED) used in the SLM processing of various metals and alloys. Metallic specimens printed with different VED values were subjected to surface characterization as well as tensile deformation. Their surface roughness, yield stress and toughness were subsequently used to verify a linear relationship between roughness and VED, and a linear behavior between yield stress/toughness and VED was proposed. Predictive models were formulated for estimating the roughness/yield stress/toughness of the produced specimens with respect to the VED used in their production. The models’ predictions will provide insight into the 3D printing parameters, thus minimizing the cost and effort of the 3D printing procedure, in applications where surface quality and strength are important.