A cylinder is built using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) — an additive manufacturing process — and the island scanning pattern, where the region to be melted is divided into smaller islands that are scanned randomly by the laser. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have developed a new and more efficient approach to a challenging problem in additive manufacturing – using selective laser melting, namely, the selection of appropriate process parameters that result in parts with desired properties. Selective laser melting (SLM) is a powder-based, additive manufacturing process where a 3D part is produced, layer by layer, using a high-energy laser beam to fuse the metal powder particles. Some SLM applications require parts that are very dense, with less than 1 percent porosity, as the pores or voids are the weakest part of the material and most likely would result in failure. But building functional parts and components to specific standards and performance specifications can be challenging because a large number of parameters must be set appropriately. Some of the key parameters include laser power, laser speed, distance between laser scan lines, scanning strategy and powder layer thickness. As a result, there is a need for a reliable and cost-effective approach to determine the
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