Abstract
Featured Application Mathematical tool for tuning Selective Laser Melting process parameters for achieving highly dense components. In this work, dimensional analysis is used to develop a general mathematical model to predict bulk density of SLMed components taking volumetric energy density, scanning speed, powder’s thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and average grain diameter as independent variables. Strong relation between dependent and independent dimensionless products is observed. Inconel 718 samples were additively manufactured and a particular expression, in the form of a power-law polynomial, for its bulk density, in the working domain of the independent dimensionless product, was obtained. It is found that with longer laser exposure time, and lower scanning speed, better densification is attained. Likewise, volumetric energy density has a positive influence on bulk density. The negative effect of laser power in bulk density is attributed to improper process conditions leading to powder particle sublimation and ejection. A maximum error percentage between experimental and predicted bulk density of 3.7119% is achieved, which corroborates the accuracy of our proposed model. A general expression for determining the scanning speed, with respect to laser power, needed to achieve highly dense components, was derived. The model’s applicability was further validated considering SLMed samples produced by AlSi10Mg and Ti6Al4V alloys. This article elucidates how to tune relevant manufacturing parameters to produce highly dense SLM parts using mathematical expressions derived from Buckingham’s π- theorem.
Highlights
Selective Laser MeltingAdditive manufacturing (AM) has gained interest in industrial spheres due to its benefits, reduction of waste materials, shortening of manufacturing times, high flexibility, production of complex geometry products, shortening of product development cycle, among others [1]
Before we start with the derivation of a mathematical model based on Buckingham’s π-theorem to find the relation between process parameters and physical phenomena, we briefly review some definitions and basic foundations of dimensional analysis
The the samples were manually removed from the build plate
Summary
Selective Laser MeltingAdditive manufacturing (AM) has gained interest in industrial spheres due to its benefits, reduction of waste materials, shortening of manufacturing times, high flexibility, production of complex geometry products, shortening of product development cycle, among others [1]. Each scanning process produces a thin cross-sectional layer of the final product. The final component is, completed in an iterative process of depositing feedstock, laser scanning, melting the feedstock, and undergoing a solidification lapse [4]. N − 1 is a complete set of independent physical quantities. Defining these factors is the first and most important step in dimensional analysis. A complete, dimensionally independent, subset Q1 , . Qk is chosen from the complete independent set Q1 , . The dimensions of the dependent and remaining independent physical quantities are expressed as a power law of the dimensions of the dimensionally independent subset.
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