Characterization of Single Track Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of Ti6Al4V Powder with Numerical Modelling
K. Antony and Rakeshnath T.R.
The single track selective laser melting (SLM) of Ti6Al4V powder is characterized using numerical modelling. The main objective of this study is to understand the effect of laser process parameters such as laser power, scanning speed and beam size on the geometry characteristics of the melt zone. This was achieved by employing a moving heat source approach. The physical and geometrical characteristics of the laser melted zone were evaluated from the temperature solutions obtained through numerical analysis and compared with experimental results. The results presented in this paper are beneficial to realize homogenous layer formation in selective laser melting (SLM) processes.
Keywords: Selective laser melting (SLM), finite element analysis (FEA), absorptivity, Marangoni convection, microstructural characteristics, moving heat source