Enhanced structural integrity of Laser Powder Bed Fusion based AlSi10Mg parts by attaining defect-free melt pool formations

Abstract

This research aims to fabricate AlSi10Mg parts using Laser Powder Bed Fusion technique with enhanced structural integrity. The prime novelty of this research work is eliminating the balling and sparring effects, keyhole and cavity formation by attaining effective melt pool formation. Modeling of the Laser Powder Bed Fusion process parameters such as Laser power, scanning speed, layer thickness, and hatch spacing is carried out through the Complex Proportional Assessment technique to optimize the parts' surface attributes and to overcome the defects based on the output responses such as surface roughness on scanning and building side, hardness and porosity. The laser power of 350 W, layer thickness of 30 mu m, scan speed of 1133 mm/s, and hatch spacing of 0.1 mm produces significantly desirable results to achieve maximum hardness and minimum surface roughness and holding the porosity of < 1%. The obtained optimal setting from this research improves the structural integrity of the printed AlSi10Mg parts.