Metal powder bed fusion: an overview on processes, materials, and challenges

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) is one of the key pillars of the fourth industrial revolution. AM technology is developing rapidly in the industry for manufacturing custom industry, functional or finished machined parts. Printed parts, either semifinished or finished, are widely used in the medical, automotive, and aerospace industries. AM technology has more competitive advantages than subtractive processes. The advantages include the capability of producing small and complex parts. Among the available AM technologies, powder bed fusion is promising for metal parts production. This chapter presents an overview of the four metal powder bed fusion processes, namely, direct metal laser sintering, selective laser sintering, selective laser melting, and electron beam melting. Metal materials commonly used and the key challenges of these processes are presented with the size of the global market.