Investigation of the melt track geometry during selective laser melting of CuSn10

Abstract

The CuSn10 alloy (bronze with 10% tin) has remarkable mechanical properties, including good elongation and medium hardness. Additive manufacturing of this powder compound is developing at a fast rate. In this study, optimization of the process parameters of the selective laser melting method was carried out to manufacture CuSn10 compounds. In addition, a numerical model for the simulation of the melt pool behavior was created by utilizing the Ansys 2021 R1 software, and a comparison was carried out between predicted numerical data and the obtained experimental results. The formation conditions of various melt traces were modeled, measured and validated for this aim. In the experimental stage, a constant laser power of 95 W was used, and the effect of the variation of the scanning speed was studied between 10 and 1500 mm/s. The results showed that the variation of the scanning speed is not enough, and optimization must be carried out by including other process parameters. This indicates that by adjusting the process parameters to have a 365 W power, the liquid phase can be achieved in the production process.