Effect of Powder Type and Particles Size on Microstructure of Selective Laser Sintered Parts

Abstract

The goal of this work was to investigate microstructure of the selective laser sintering (SLS) produced parts evaluating effect of powder type and fraction size. Studies have shown that printed samples of 316L and GP1 metal powders had a higher defect content compared to printed components from MP1 powder material. From scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it was found that iron-based printed parts melted worse than Co-Cr alloy components. Iron-based 316L and GP1 metal powders did not get enough energy from laser to perform a better microwelding between particles. Surface roughness Ra numerical values for samples 316L, GP1, MP1 respectively are Ra = 13.7 μm; 11.4 μm; 3.0 μm. Stainless steel powder material contains particles which size varies between 20 – 120 μm. The Co-Cr alloy and the maraging steel powder materials are made of 10 – 80 μm particles. The chemical and elemental composition of powder materials were examined using SEM-EDS technology.