Laser powder bed fusion of metallic components: Latest progress in productivity, quality, and cost perspectives

Abstract

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is an innovative metal Additive Manufacturing process that enables the production of highly complex parts with unique precision, making it a crucial technology for demanding applications such as aerospace and automotive industries. However, the efficiency of the L-PBF process should be enhanced compared to traditional manufacturing methods to approach alleviated production costs and improved productivity. This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the L-PBF process, including the primary factors that impact productivity and quality performance. Hence, several efforts have been undertaken to address these limitations and explore various innovative strategies. Modifications to process parameters, such as increasing the layer thickness and employing statistical approaches, optimization algorithms, and numerical modeling to advance the construction rate, are part of efforts to improve the efficacy of L-PBF. Considering the economic implications and practical implementation of these innovations alongside such approaches is essential. These factors are critical for ensuring that the advantages of increased productivity and decreased costs are realized across various applications. Through a series of illustrative case studies, this paper demonstrates how these approaches can improve the performance of L-PBF and help realize its full potential across an extensive range of applications.