Study on the influence of selective laser melting temperature on the melting bath

Abstract

Abstract The high-temperature gradient and high-frequency thermal cycling during the selective laser melting process will seriously affect the melting bath morphology and dimensions, which in turn affects the quality of formed parts. In this paper, a numerical model of the SLM process is established to emulate the temperature field and investigate temperature variation of single-layer and multi-channel models, as well as the influence of disparate laser power, hatch spacing, and scanning speed on melting baths. The simulation results show that the temperature gradient at the front end of the melting bath is small due to physical phase transition, and the temperature gradient nearer to the end of the melting bath is bigger. The midpoint of the second melting channel has the highest peak temperature due to heat conduction and accumulation; the impact of each technological parameter on the melting bath is in the following order: laser power > scanning speed > hatch spacing. Therefore, it is clear that the temperature distribution will provide a theoretical foundation for regulating the stress state of molded parts and ensuring the surface quality and mechanical capacity of the processed component.