Study of single tracks with alsi10mg and composites powders

Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) is a powder-bed additive manufacturing technology capable to produce fully dense metal parts layer-by-layer from a 3D CAD model. The consolidation and the properties of the metal components strongly depend on each laser melted track. The understanding of the interaction between the thermal and physical properties of the powder and the building parameters is a key factor to achieve a good consolidation and can represent a basis for the development of new and innovative AM materials. In this study, the effects of the building parameters, such as laser power and scan speed, on the shape and the microstructure of a single scan track were evaluated. Powders of AlSi10Mg were laser scanned in order to investigate the phenomena that arise in the melt pool such as the balling effect and the spreading of the molten phase. The experiments were carried out in argon atmosphere on an AlSi10Mg platform with fixed laser spot (100 μm) and building platform temperature (100 °C).