Flow field analysis for multilaser powder bed fusion and the influence of gas flow distribution on parts quality
ISSN: 1355-2546
Article publication date: 3 May 2022
Issue publication date: 14 October 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of the gas-flow field distribution and design on the parts quality of 316L stainless steel and the vapor–spatter behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the hot-wire wind speed test method, the exact value of the gas velocity at different locations was accurately measured to establish the effect on the porosity and the mechanical properties of the parts. The influence of the placement of single or dual blow screens on the performance of the parts quality was also studied. Through scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometer, high-speed photography and other methods, the influence mechanism was explained.
Findings
It was found that too high or too low gas velocity both play a negative role, for 316L stainless steel, the range of 1.3–2.0 m/s is a suitable gas field velocity during the multilaser powder bed fusion process. And printing quality using dual blow screens is better than single.
Practical implications
The optimization of gas field design and optimal gas velocity (1.3–2.0 m/s) applied during laser melting can improve the quality of ML-PBF of 316L stainless steel.
Originality/value
This study showed the influence of the gas field on the spatter–vapor in the process during ML-PBF, and the unfavorable gas field led to the formation of pores and unmelted powders.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully appreciate the financial support from Guangdong Province Science and Technology Project (No. 2020B090924002), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. U2001218), Guangdong Province Science and Technology Project (No. 2018B090905001) and Regional Joint Foundation of Guangdong Province (No. 2020B1515120013).
Authorship contribution statement: Zixin Liu: Conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis and writing – original draft. Yongqiang Yang: Funding acquisition and project administration. Di Wang: Data curation and writing – review and editing. Jie Chen: Methodology and writing – review and editing. Yunmian Xiao: Supervision and writing – review and editing. Hanxiang Zhou: Visualization and conceptualization. Ziyu Chen: Writing – review and editing. Changhui Song: Writing – review and editing.
Declaration of competing interest: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Citation
Liu, Z., Yang, Y., Wang, D., Chen, J., Xiao, Y., Zhou, H., Chen, Z. and Song, C. (2022), "Flow field analysis for multilaser powder bed fusion and the influence of gas flow distribution on parts quality", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 28 No. 9, pp. 1706-1716. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-12-2021-0351
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited