Principal Parameters Research Articles

Differentiation time scales of small rocky bodies

The petrologic and geochemical diversity of meteorites is a function of the bulk composition of their parent bodies, but also the result of how and when internal differentiation took place. Here we focus on this second aspect considering the two principal parameters involved: size and accretion time of the body. We discuss the interplay of the various time scales related to heating, cooling and drainage of silicate liquids. Based on two phase flow modeling in 1-D spherical geometry, we show that drainage time is proportional to two independent parameters: μm/R2, the ratio of the matrix viscosity to the square of the body radius and μf/a2, the ratio of the liquid viscosity to the square of the matrix grain size. We review the dependence of these properties on temperature, thermal history and degree of melting, demonstrating that they vary by several orders of magnitude during thermal evolution. These variations call into question the results of two phase flow modeling of small body differentiation that assume constant properties. For example, the idea that liquid migration was efficient enough to remove 26Al heat sources from the interior of bodies and dampen their melting (e.g. Moskovitz and Gaidos, 2011; Neumann et al., 2012) relies on percolation rates of silicate liquids overestimated by six to eight orders of magnitude. In bodies accreted during the first few million years of solar-system history, we conclude that drainage cannot prevent the occurrence of a global magma ocean. These conditions seem ideal to explain the generation of the parent-bodies of iron meteorites. A map of the different evolutionary scenarios of small bodies as a function of size and accretion time is proposed.

Data-driven model for feedstock blending optimization of anaerobic co-digestion by BMP maximization

Anaerobic Digestion represents an economically and environmentally friendly technology that allows the production of biogas starting from organic substrates. Single substrate digestion often unexploited the total biomass capacity, resulting in low methane yield. On the other hand, it has been proved that biogas production can be significantly improved by combining two or more substrates, performing a co-digestion, which exploits the synergy between different bacteria populations. In the last years, many experimental studies have been conducted to understand how feedstocks interact with each other when mixed, revealing how powerful the blending of substrates could improve its key properties reaching higher methane yield and increasing waste valorization. However, these tests are often time-consuming and rely on the quality of the instruments used to analyze the substrates. Some co-digestion models have been also proposed but are very specific to the co-digestion of a well-defined mix of feedstocks. Unfortunately, ready technologies and models which evaluate an optimal blending ratio, able to estimate the optimal co-digestion configurations, are not discussed so far in the literature. Consequently, this work deals with the development of a tool that can find the optimal blended feedstock composition to produce the highest methane potential. The high number of possible raw materials, and the high variability of their characteristics, reflect the complexity of the problem. So, a database has been created where data about commonly used substrates have been gathered, analyzed, and exploited to build a data-driven model that effectively evaluates the unit's optimal feedstock composition. Furthermore, the model considers supply-chain issues such as substrate availability and storage options to be more trustworthy in a wider range of industrial settings. Principal influencing parameters of the model were found to be the C/N ratio and the biodegradability of the substrates, while other ones as lipids content and total solid concentration were excluded from the optimization algorithm but still present in the database for further studies. Working temperature of the unit was fixed to 35 °C, being the most used condition applied in the literature considered. Finally, the model has been validated by comparing its results to literature experimental tests. from both batch and CSTR (continuous stirred tank) reactors, showing great reliability of the model to the cases analyzed (RMSE <20 mL/gVS for two-substrate mixture, RMSE <30 mL/gVS for three-substrate mixture). Furthermore, the optimization of an industrial case is proposed with data provided by the Thöni company, yielding satisfactory results, such as a total increment of the bio-methane potential up to 70% globally (3-to-5% BMP daily increment) after the diet optimization.

Biomechanical energetics of terrestrial locomotion in California sea lions (Zalophus californianus).

Pinnipedia, an order of semi-aquatic marine mammals, adapted a body design that allows for efficient aquatic locomotion but limited terrestrial locomotion. Otariids, like the California sea lion (Zalophus californianus), have enlarged forelimbs and can bring their hindlimbs under the body to locomote quadrupedally on land, but phocids (true seals) have reduced forelimbs and are unable to bring their hindlimbs beneath them during terrestrial locomotion. Because of these differences, phocids are expected to have greater energetic costs when moving on land compared with otariids. The mechanical costs of transport (COT) and power outputs of terrestrial locomotion were first obtained from one male and two female adult California sea lions through video recording locomotion sequences across a level runway. The center of mass, along with six other anatomical points, were digitized to obtain variables such as velocity (V), amplitude of heave (A) and the frequency (f) of oscillations during the locomotion cycle. These variables represent the principal parameters of a biomechanical model that computes the power output of individuals. The three California sea lions in this study averaged a power output of 112.04 W and a COT of 0.63 J kg-1m-1. This footage was compared against video footage previously recorded of three phocid species (harbor seal, gray seal and northern elephant seal). Power output and mechanical COT were compared for all four pinniped species by tracking the animals' center of mass. The quadrupedal gait of sea lions showed lower vertical displacements of the center of mass, and higher velocities compared with the terrestrial gait of phocids. Northern elephant seals, gray seals and harbor seals showed significantly higher COT and power outputs than the sea lions. California sea lions locomote with lower energetic costs, and thus higher efficiency compared with phocids, proving that they are a mechanically intermediate species on land between terrestrial mammals and phocids. This study provides novel information on the mechanical energy exerted by pinnipeds, particularly California sea lions, to then be used in future research to better understand the limitations of these aquatic mammals.

Measurement of the principal damping components of composite laminates

The prediction of material damping in composite laminate components may allow for the development of lighter component designs, and can be achieved via several techniques. One such example, the modal strain energy (MSE) technique requires a combination of effective strain energy modelling and accurate principal loss factor parameters. Measuring principal loss factors can be very challenging for lightly damped components due to parasitic or ‘extraneous’ damping sources introduced by the test set-up itself. To ensure high quality input data to the strain energy models an novel damping test procedure has been developed, which allows for mono-harmonic damping parameter extraction via free decay and logarithmic decrements, whilst minimising extraneous dissipation. Improvements over the established impact hammer testing technique could be shown during the validation of the approach.

Assessment of equilibrium pressure-flow scour depth using jet flow theory

Most models for predicting pressure-flow scour depth are based on use of the continuity and energy equations. The current study presents a model to predict pressure-flow scour depth using the momentum equation considering the jet flow deflected by the bridge deck. When approaching the bridge deck, the upstream flow acts as a jet flow that deviates toward the bed. Below the bridge deck, a combined jet-flow is created as a result of merging the initial jet-flow and the pressure-flow. The continuity equation is used to determine the thickness of the separation zone and the combined jet-flow angle. Equations are presented to estimate the combined jet-flow velocity and the thickness of the combined jet-flow. The study results reveal that the flow intensity, submergence ratio, and relative separation zone thickness are the principal parameters affecting the pressure-flow scour depth. The equation proposed in this study shows satisfactory accuracy to predict the equilibrium pressure-flow scour depth for a relative opening height of the bridge deck greater than 0.25. For relative opening heights of the bridge deck less than 0.25, insufficient duration of tests is a limitation of the available data to verify the proposed equation.

Predicting the potential geographic distribution of Nepeta septemcrenata Benth. and Phlomis aurea Decne in St. Katherine protectorate, South Sinai, Egypt, by using the maxent technique

The threatened and endangered species distribution data are frequently clustered, and modeling their suitable habitat distribution by commonly utilized modeling methods is difficult. Therefore, this work aimed to assess the potential geographic distribution of Nepeta septemcrenata and Phlomis aurea in the St. Katherine protectorate using a new maxent approach. In addition to identifying the principal environmental parameters, which highly affect the potential geographic distribution of Nepeta septemcrenata and Phlomis aurea in the St. Katherine protectorate. The findings presented that the assessment distribution of Nepeta septemcrenata and Phlomis aurea is concentrated in the high-mountain region in SKP. While the driest quarter's precipitation, the coldest quarter's precipitation, the warmest quarter's mean temperature, the coldest quarter's mean temperature, and elevation all had a role in Nepeta septemcrenata distribution. The coldest quarter's mean temperature, the driest quarter's mean temperature, precipitation seasonality, the warmest quarter's mean temperature, all had a role in the distribution of P. aurea. Additionally, the highly suitable ecological conditions for Nepeta septemcrenata cover about 200.5 km2 from the total protectorate area, while the highly suitable ecological conditions for Phlomis aurea cover only 104.1 km2. This work may help in conservation planning for these threatened and endemic species.

A Bayesian Analysis of Physical Parameters for 783 Kepler Close Binaries: Extreme-mass-ratio Systems and a New Mass Ratio versus Period Lower Limit

Contact binary star systems represent the long-lived penultimate phase of binary evolution. Population statistics of their physical parameters inform an understanding of binary evolutionary pathways and end products. We use light curves and new optical spectroscopy to conduct a pilot study of ten (near) contact systems in the long-period (P > 0.5 days) tail of close binaries in the Kepler field. We use PHOEBE light-curve models to compute Bayesian probabilities on five principal system parameters. Mass ratios and third-light contributions measured from spectra agree well with those inferred from the light curves. Pilot study systems have extreme mass ratios q < 0.32. Most are triples. Analysis of the unbiased sample of 783 0.15 d < P < 2 days (near) contact binaries results in 178 probable contact systems, 114 probable detached systems, and 491 ambiguous systems for which we report best-fitting and 16th-/50th-/84th-percentile parameters. Contact systems are rare at periods P > 0.5 days, as are systems with q > 0.8. There exists an empirical mass ratio lower limit ≈ 0.05–0.15 below which contact systems are absent, supporting a new set of theoretical predictions obtained by modeling the evolution of contact systems under the constraints of mass and angular momentum conservation. Premerger systems should lie at long periods and near this mass ratio lower limit, which rises from q = 0.044 for P = 0.74 days to q = 0.15 at P = 2.0 days. These findings support a scenario whereby nuclear evolution of the primary (more massive) star drives mass transfer to the primary, thus moving systems toward extreme q and larger P until the onset of the Darwin instability at precipitates a merger.

Design optimization of a viscous clutch with an electrorheological fluid

The article describes design optimization of a viscous disc clutch with an electrorheological (ER) fluid. The design optimization is conducted based on mathematical models of ER fluid and clutch geometry. As important issues for the optimal design, the assumed values are: the torque transferred by the clutch, the dimensions of the clutch and the steady-state operating temperature of the clutch. The assumed design variables are: the angular velocity of the input shaft, the number of working gaps of the clutch and the selected dimensions of the clutch. The aim of the design optimization is to search for design variables such as the angular velocity of the input shaft, the number of working gaps of the clutch and the selected dimensions of the clutch, for which the clutch transfers the highest possible torque, while the dimensions of the clutch are small and the steady-state operating temperature is low. The design optimization is conducted searching at least two different objective functions created taking into account the volume, the transferred torque and the steady-state operating temperature of the clutch. Two numerical methods are used: the Monte Carlo method and the Genetic Algorithm method. The optimization calculations are performed for two sets of design variables, consisting of three and eight elements, and a final prototype designed via the optimization is depicted with the principal design parameters.

Comparison of hypertonic-saline vs normal-saline nebulization in children with bronchiolitis.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of 3% hypertonic saline (HS) with normal saline (NS) in children with bronchiolitis, in term of change in clinical severity score and duration of hospital stay. Study Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, Central, Park Teaching Hospital, Lahore. Period: August 2018-January 2019. Method &amp; Material: Sixty patients as per inclusion criteria, were randomly assigned into two groups. Group-A received nebulization with normal-saline (NS) and Group-B received nebulization with 3% hypertonic-Saline (HS). Data was collected regarding demographics, duration of illness, clinical severity score (CSS) as described by Wang et al., at time of presentation and after 24-hours of management as per assigned group, change in CSS after initial 24 hours of management, and total duration of hospitalization. Data was analyzed through SPSS-version-26. Paired sample t-test was applied to relate outcome of both the groups. Result: The principal outcome parameters studied were change in CSS and duration of hospital stay. Statistically nebulization with NS seems better than with HS with the p-value of 0.001 for both change in CSS after 24 hours and duration of hospital stay. Conclusion: Nebulization with normal saline has better impact on outcome of bronchiolitis, in terms of improving clinical severity score and hospital stay.

Meat analogues: an assessment of plant-based protein options and the parameters of their success: a mini review

Consumer interest in meat analogues, plant-based alternatives that mimic traditional meat properties, are on the rise. These food products are formulated with alternative proteins to provide adequate nutritional value while closely resembling the general characteristics (e.g., texture, flavor, juiciness) of meat. Meat substitutes are of specific interest to consumers who are concerned about the ecological footprint and healthfulness of what they consume. Attributes such as taste, texture, and emotional attachment to meat are primary factors determining the success of many meat substitutes in the retail space. Other parameters of interest regarding meat alternatives are sustainability, consumer acceptance, industry challenges, and how these various traits interact to influence the success of products. Studies show that these parameters are closely related, and there is a considerable amount of interplay determining the success of meat analogues. The two principal parameters to success are sensory evaluation and sustainability. Both traits are important to the consumer, and the industry will need to consider both when designing novel products for the retail space. It is anticipated that meat analogues will continue to rise in popularity among consumers, providing them with numerous alternative protein options soon.

Parents’ Selection Affects Embryo Rescue, Seed Regeneration and the Heredity of Seedless Trait in Table Grape Breeding Programs

The development of new seedless cultivar represents one of the most important goals in table grape breeding programmes worldwide. The most common technique to obtain new seedless cultivars is embryo rescue, an approach that allows the isolation of immature embryos and their cultivation in vitro. In this study, a total of 23 crosses (developed employing one seeded and one seedless parent) were performed during two seasons (2017 and 2018) for a total of 1140 seedlings. For each cross, the principal parameters related to the efficiency of the pollination were measured (harvested bunches, collected berries, recovered embryos/seeds and plants obtained). Based on these traits, statistical analyses were performed to calculate the female and male parental efficiency and to compare the two techniques of propagation employed: embryo rescue (7.8% of plants obtained) and gamic propagation (8.4%). Finally, the segregation of the SSR marker p3_VvAGL11 was evaluated on the progeny of four crosses in which the same cultivar was used alternately as female or male parent (SugxIta/ItaxSug and CrixIta/ItaxCri). The parameters measured showed a positive correlation between berries, seeds and plants obtained, exclusively in combination with a seeded female parent. The crossing combinations investigated indicate that some genotypes outperformed others when used as female parent in terms of embryos/seeds produced. Therefore, the efficiency in terms of seedlings obtained for the seedless female parents is actually balanced with those obtained for the seeded ones. The proposed research aims to provide useful information to guide the choice of genotypes used in the genetic improvement programs of seedless grapes, to increase their efficiency.

Cockcroft–Walton Generator: An Effective Voltage Multiplier for Power Supplies of Square Pulses Driving DBD Plasmas

This report gives prominence to the importance of the traditional Cockcroft–Walton voltage multiplier to the design of pulsed power supplies for dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) applications. Following an inventive concept, a simple Cockcroft–Walton generator is combined with a MOSFET-based switch (in either “push” or “pull” mode). Thus, the to-be-chopped stabilized dc high voltage is produced by a compact, transformer-less, modular unit, having high flexibility in terms of engineering. This approach leads to well-defined, square, high-voltage pulses of variable amplitude, frequency, and duty cycle. Design, implementation, and proof test of such a prototype are here demonstrated. The prototype yields square pulses as high as 10 kV (plateau value), as narrow as 350 ns (variable pulsewidth up to millisecond, depending on the frequency), rising or falling time close to 20 ns, pulse repetition rates up to 4 kHz, and output mean power up to 150 W. The functionality of the system is demonstrated by driving coaxial, ambient air DBDs of variable lengths, while principal electrical and optical parameters are recorded. Peak power values higher than 70 kW are measured on the DBD side, while the voltage multiplier power efficiency factor remains close to 95%.

Air-coupled ultrasonic diffuse-wave techniques to evaluate distributed cracking damage in concrete

In this study, we investigated the suitability of applying air-coupled ultrasonic diffuse-wave techniques to concrete structures for the evaluation of arbitrarily distributed micro-cracking damage. Air-coupled test results were compared with those obtained using a conventional full-contact measurement system. Three different micro-cracking damage levels were simulated by embedding varying amounts of low-stiffness polypropylene fibers in concrete samples. Two principal diffuse-wave parameters, diffusivity and dissipation, were determined using air-coupled and full-contact test configurations. Wave frequencies of 300–600 kHz were employed, which set up significant ultrasonic scattering owing to the heterogeneous characteristics of concrete components (e.g., aggregates, micro-cracks expressed by fibers, and pores). In addition, the sensitivities of diffusivity and dissipation to the number of measurement locations were examined. The results demonstrated that the air-coupled method can provide an equivalent reliability to the full-contact method, allowing a much faster and flexible data collection. The spatial averaging of 20 arbitrarily selected data (measured at different locations) yielded sufficiently accurate diffuse-wave parameters, showing less than a 5 % difference from the average of 32 spatially different data.

Principal Parameters Analysis of the Double-Elastic-Constrained Flapping Hydrofoil for Tidal Current Energy Extraction

Taking the rigid NACA0012 airfoil as the object, the key structural parameters of the spring–mass system that govern the dynamics of the double-elastic-constrained flapping hydrofoil are numerically studied in this paper. A two-dimensional numerical model, based on the CFD software FINE/Marine, is established to investigate the influence of the spring stiffness coefficient, frequency ratio, and damping coefficient on the motion and performance of the flapping hydrofoil. This study demonstrates that when the structural parameters are adequately adjusted, the power factor exceeding 1.0 has been achieved, and the corresponding efficiency is up to 37.8%. Moreover, this system can start and work within a wide range of damping coefficients. However, the hydraulic efficiency and power coefficient are sensitive to the change in damping coefficient, so it is very necessary to design an appropriate power output. Lastly, the most obvious parameter affecting the energy acquisition performance is the spring stiffness coefficients. Frequency ratios in the two directions have little influence on the peak value of the power coefficient, but they will cause the change of damping coefficients of the peak point. The key structural parameters studied in this paper provide a useful guideline for an optimized design of this interesting system through searching for the best performance.

Operating modes and target erosion in high power impulse magnetron sputtering

Magnetron sputtering combines a glow discharge with sputtering from a target that simultaneously serves as a cathode for the discharge. The electrons of the discharge are confined between overarching magnetic field lines and the negatively biased cathode. As the target erodes during the sputter process, the magnetic field strengthens in the cathode vicinity, which can influence discharge parameters with the risk of impairing reproducibility of the deposition process over time. This is of particular concern for high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) as the discharge current and voltage waveforms vary strongly with the magnetic field strength. We here discuss ways to limit the detrimental effect of target erosion on the film deposition process by choosing an appropriate mode of operation for the discharge. The goal is to limit variations of two principal flux parameters, the deposition rate and the ionized flux fraction. As an outcome of the discussion, we recommend operating HiPIMS discharges by maintaining the peak discharge current constant.

A multi-pole magnetorheological clutch powered by permanent magnets and excitation coils

This article presents a new design of a multi-pole magnetorheological (MR) clutch, with a hybrid magnetization using several permanent magnets and several excitation coils. The permanent magnets are used as the first source of generating the magnetic field, and the excitation coils are used to adjust the magnetic field to the required value. Firstly, a detailed illustration of the mechanical design of the MR clutch is presented. The principal design parameters of the proposed clutch are determined to achieve maximum torque according to the magnetic circuit. After that, the torque model is established, and simulations are conducted to evaluate the magnetic circuit design. Subsequently, an experimental set-up is established, and the proposed MR clutch is designed and manufactured, and a series of experiments are carried out. The results clearly show that different torque output can be obtained by controlling the current magnitude and direction of each coil. Finally, to achieve a precise feedback torque control, the design of a current controller is carried out using conventional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control scheme. The results demonstrate that the designed PID controller can be used to obtain the desired torque.

4E analysis and thermodynamic optimization of flaring associated gas recovery using external firing recuperative gas turbine

Associated gas with oil extraction is usually burning through the flaring process. This process destroys a valuable natural resource that should be either recovered or stored. The process also pollutes the environment by emitting greenhouse gasses. The current study presents a novel external firing gas turbine cycle to recover the associated gas. The external firing prevents corrosion within gas turbine components due to the corrosive nature of the associated gas. To find an optimal design of the cycle, the comprehensive 4E analysis including Energy, Exergy, Environment and Economic analysis is carried out. The sensitivity analysis is employed to investigate the influence of the key parameters such as the compressor pressure ratio and fuel cost on the evaluation criteria of the system i.e., energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, total cost and environmental impact. Moreover, the net present value and payback period criteria are applied to analyze the whole system economically. The results of the proposed system modeling show that at the base condition for fixed output electricity of 1200 kW, values of the principal parameters are as the 27.6%, 35.8%, 6553 $/kW, 269020 kg/kW, 12.3e7 $, 3.8 year for energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, total cost, environmental impact, net present value and payback period, respectively. As another activity, Multi-objective optimization using the NSGAII method is performed to achieve the optimal value of three selective objective functions as well as decision variables. Results reveal that there is a conflict between objective functions (total cost and environmental impact) and the other one i.e., exergy efficiency. It indicates that any effort to increase the system efficiency causes relatively higher costs and environmental issues. The final optimum values of the objective functions i.e. total cost, environmental impact and exergy efficiency are found to be 5864.6 $/kW, 241374.5 kg/kW and 33.4%, respectively.

A Priori Analysis on Deep Learning of Filtered Reaction Rate

A filtered reaction rate model driven by deep learning is proposed and analyzed a priori in the context of large eddy simulation (LES). A deep artificial neural network (ANN) is trained on the explicitly filtered reaction rate source term extracted from a database comprised of turbulent premixed planar flame direct numerical simulations (DNSes) employing single-step chemistry. The filtered DNS database to be used for the training of the ANN covers a wide range of turbulence intensities and LES filter widths. An interpretation technique of deep learning is employed to search the principal input parameters in the high dimensional database to alleviate the model complexity. The deep learning filtered reaction rate model is then tested on the unseen filtered planar flames featuring untrained turbulence intensities and LES filter widths, in conjunction with another canonical type of flame configuration that it has not been trained on. The deep learning filtered reaction rate model achieves good agreement with the filtered DNS results and also provides a quantitatively accurate surrogate model when compared to existing algebraic models and other combustion models from the literature.

LARGE-SCALE REDUCTIONS IN THE ELECTRON DENSITY OF IONOSPHERIC F-REGION, OBSERVABLE ALONG ROCKET TRAJECTORIES AT LAUNCH

Purpose. The object of the study are electron density depletions (‘holes’) occurring in the ionospheric F-region under the action of rocket exhaust products. The purpose is to present and discuss the results of observations concerning the ionospheric holes that were detected in the course of a number of launches of medium-lift Kosmos vehicles from the Kapustin Yar spaceport. Nei- ther that cosmodrome, nor the rocket type had been subjects of similar analysis before. Design/methodology/approach. The observations at the Kapustin Yar cosmodrome were performed with a portable vertical Doppler sounder. The beats between a reference signal and the one reflected from the ionosphere were subjected to spectral analysis, which allowed identifying the principal mode of the Doppler frequency shift and establishing time dependences of that frequency shift. An ionosonde located nearby was used for monitoring the underlying state of the ionosphere. Findings. The measurements performed with the vertical Doppler sounder near the launch site of the medium-lift Kosmos rocket have allowed obtaining first estimates for the principal parameters of the ionospheric holes arising in the F-region along the vehicle trajectory, as well as for the accompanying quasi-periodic variations in the electron density. The spatial scale sizes of the holes have been found to be in excess of 300 km, while the electron density reductions may attain » 50 %. These results are in agreement with the data obtained by international researchers for effects from heavy- and super heavy-lift launch vehicles. Also, note that the types of propellant differed significantly. The propagation velocity of the hole’s front edge was estimated to be » 140 m/s. The hole formation was accompanied by quasi-periodic variations in the Doppler frequency shift as a result of radar signal scattering from the electron density fluctuations produced by propagating atmospheric gravity- and infrasonic waves. The atmospheric gravity waves showed periods in the range from 7 to 20 minutes, and the infrasonic waves had a period close to 2 min. The amplitudes of quasi-periodic electron density variations were estimated for the two modes to be » 0.3 ¸1.5 % and » 0.02 ¸ 0.03 %, respectively. Conclusions. Medium-lift launch vehicles (mass of a few hundred tons) are capable of forming ionospheric ‘holes’ of several hundred kilometers in size and of reducing the electron density in the F-region by a factor greater than 2.

Producing Ti5Mo-Fused Tracks and Layers via Laser Powder Bed Fusion

The principal optimum process parameters for printing Ti5Mo fused tracks and layers were determined. The laser power, scanning speed and hatch distance were varied to study their influence on fused track and layer formation. The morphology, geometry, homogeneity, surface roughness, solidification structure, microstructure and microhardness of the fused tracks and layers were analysed. It was observed that, based on the laser energy density, different fused tracks and layers can be achieved. It is only at a certain critical threshold that optimum process parameters could be obtained. Laser power of 200 W with a corresponding scanning speed of 1.0 m/s at a hatch distance of 80 µm was obtained as the optimum process parameter set. As opposed to previous research by the authors, the Mo powder particles in the current investigation melted completely in the Ti5Mo alloy matrix due to the small Mo powder particle size (1 µm). A 50% offset rescanning strategy also improved the surface quality of the layers. The solidification front is predominantly cellular, and the microhardness values obtained fall within the values reported in the current literature.