C026 Novel selective laser melting solution for metal additive manufacturing using vacuum and a quasi continuous wave laser

Abstract

A novel metal additive manufacturing system called Rafael 150V was developed that uses a 500 W quasi continuous wave (QCW) laser for sintering and a vacuum system for antioxidizing and contamination removal. The effect of the QCW laser was not considered here. The vacuum effectively prevented the built parts from oxidization and removed contamination from a powder surface, when the vacuum pressure during fabrication was less than 2x10^<-2> Pa. Samples fabricated from titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) powder using this system had a density higher than 99 %, good surface condition, and a roughness (Ra) of about 15μm. The vacuum system enables the Rafael 150V system suitable for practical use.