Selective Laser Melting of Copper

Abstract

In this work the selective laser melting (SLM) of pure copper powder was studied. Because of low laser radiation absorption and high thermal conductivity it is very difficult to organize stable SLM process for copper. Five 10x10x5 mm specimens were fabricated by using different process parameters (scanning speed, point distance, exposure time, scanning strategy). The structure of fabricated specimens was studied by scanning electron microscopy of polished cross-sections. The tensile test was carried out for SLM regime with the lowest porosity.