Additive manufacturing of copper with a single mode IR fiber laser

Laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) process was used to produce copper (Cu) and copper with graphene nanoplatelets (Cu-GNP) samples using a conventional single-mode IR fiber laser with a wavelength of 1060-1080 nm and power levels up to 500 W. Cu and Cu-GNP samples were fabricated considering the same process parameters in order to investigate the effect of GNP to increase the optical absorbency of Cu. It has been shown through the use of computed tomography and optical imaging that it is possible to produce copper parts with high density (approximately 98%) using laser powers below 500 W. The results also highlighted the difficulty in obtaining dense samples using various percentages of GNP, while the pure Cu samples were optimally processed.