Abstract
The study was carried out to investigate the manufacturing possibility of Silicon Carbide (SiC) by direct Powder Bed Selective Laser Processing (PBSLP) experimentally and numerically. The experimental study was carried out by means of PBSLP while the numerical study was accomplished by developing a CFD model. The CFD model simulates accurately realistic conditions of the PBSLP process. A user-defined code, that describes the process parameters such as laser power, scanning speed, scanning strategies, and hatching distance has been developed and compiled to ANSYS FLUENT 2020 R1. Also, the model was validated with the available published data from the literature. The model was used to deeply analyse and support the results obtained through the experimental runs. Different values of laser power and scanning speeds with scanning strategy in the form of a continuous linear pattern and rotated by 90 degrees between layers were studied. The laser power is ranging from 52W to 235 W while the scanning speed is ranging from 300 to 3900 mm s−1. The results showed that the direct PBSLP of SiC is possible with the optimization of the process parameters. Layer thickness and hatching distance are the most important parameters that needed to be optimized. Also, the laser power and scanning speed needed to be adjusted so that the scanning temperature was between the sintering and the decomposition limits. The good agreement between experimental and simulation results proved the power and ability of the developed CFD model to be a useful tool to analyse and optimize future experimental data.
Highlights
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is considered an important ceramic material as it is an enabling technology for many applications because of its excellent properties such as its high mechanical stiffness, low density, wide bandgap, low coefficient of expansion, high thermal stability, and resistance to corrosive environments [1]
Hua et al [31] studied the addition of silicon effect on the microstructure, mechanical and thermal properties of Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide composite (Cf/SiC) manufactured by powder bed selective laser processing (PBSLP)
Xiong et al [33] studied effects of binders on the dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties of SiC particulates used in composite materials manufactured by PBSLP
Summary
Silicon Carbide (SiC) is considered an important ceramic material as it is an enabling technology for many applications because of its excellent properties such as its high mechanical stiffness, low density, wide bandgap, low coefficient of expansion, high thermal stability, and resistance to corrosive environments [1]. PBSLP is an AM technique that can be used to produce parts additively through the deposition and sintering/melting of a powder layer. Hua et al [31] studied the addition of silicon effect on the microstructure, mechanical and thermal properties of Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide composite (Cf/SiC) manufactured by PBSLP. Xiong et al [33] studied effects of binders on the dimensional accuracy and mechanical properties of SiC particulates used in composite materials manufactured by PBSLP. This paper, focuses on the manufacturing of SiC by direct PBSLP and figuring out the effect of the process parameters
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