Study on selective laser melting of commercially pure titanium powder

Abstract

Laser additive manufacturing processes melt the powder particles using laser beam energy to form solid three-dimensional objects. This article mainly focuses on numerical analysis and experimentation of laser melting of commercially pure titanium powder. Numerical solutions to moving heat source problems were developed, and their influences on process parameters were validated. The energy density has a significant role in laser melting process. The numerical investigation demonstrates the significant effect of laser energy density on laser tracks. The laser power, distribution of powder particles, the absorptivity, density, and chemical constitution of powder materials are the main factors which influence the laser energy penetration. The absorptivity plays a vital role in consolidation phenomena of the powder layer which helps to get a denser part or layer. The experimental result clearly indicates that at lower laser speed the powder compaction is better. Temperature distribution, depth, and width of laser track were compared in this article. By investigating the observations from optical microscopic images and scanning electron microscopic images, the surface characteristics of laser-melted tracks were studied. The study on numerical and experimental results shows that the optimum condition for better laser track is laser power 45 W, laser speed 20 mm/s, and laser diameter 2.5 mm. This study provides important insights into laser parameters in the melting of commercially pure titanium powder.