A brief review on the manufacturing of metal components using selective laser melting

Abstract

Technologies relevant to additive based fabrication are gaining global attention owing to the massive escalation in the requirement towards materials with enhanced performance possessing intricate shapes and geometrical structures. Unique features of these additive based fabrication techniques includes, their ability to fabricate three dimensional structures with almost complete structures with requirement of very minimized after processing techniques and the immediate employability of the fabricated parts for their intended real time usage etc. Falling under the category of powder bed based fusion methodologies, the selective laser melting (SLM) is one of the most widely employed additive based fabrication technique. SLM technique, as referred by its name, employs a beam of laser to melt and to fuse the powders of metal together. SLM possess the ability to fabricate components with any nature of intricate geometry, by means of an additive based layer–by–layer scanning approach. Technique of SLM not only permits wider flexibility in fabrication of parts and components with complex structures, but also makes it possible to fabricate parts with completely refined micro-structures and meta-stable phases and this is possible due to the adoption of extreme rates of cooling and minimized pool of metal. However, in order to employ the technique to SLM to various industrial sectors, there exists a vital need for understanding the impact of its several relevant parameters and their role in influencing the dimensional accuracy and properties of the fabricated parts. So, this review paper records and describes the experimental findings of several researchers during their research work on employment of fabrication of Al, Ti, Ni, Co based components using the technique of SLM.