The Mechanism of In-Situ Laser Polishing and Its Effect on the Surface Quality of Nickel-Based Alloy Fabricated by Selective Laser Melting

Abstract

Laser polishing (LP) is an effective method to improve the surface quality of an additively manufactured nickel-based alloy. In this paper, the in-situ laser polishing (ILP) experiment is performed on the selective laser melting (SLM) IN718 samples. The white light interferometer is used to test the three-dimensional surface profile and surface roughness of samples. The results show that the surface quality of as-SLMed samples by ILP is improved. In particular, the surface roughness is decreased by 33.5%. To reveal the mechanism of ILP, a three-dimensional numerical model is established based on the finite volume method (FVM). The model can accurately simulate the mesoscopic scale physical phenomena when the laser interacts with the metal. The temperature field, the melt pool flow, and the evolution of the surface morphology during the ILP process are predicted using this model. The mechanism of ILP is revealed based on the dynamics of the molten pool. The contribution of capillary and thermocapillary forces to the reduction of bulge curvature at different stages is studied. Furthermore, the effect of ILP power on the surface quality is investigated, and the mechanism of bulges and depressions on the track surface during high-power ILP is revealed.