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MEASUREMENT OF THE MELT POOL LENGTH DURING SINGLE SCAN TRACKS IN A COMMERCIAL LASER POWDER BED FUSION PROCESS

Published

Author(s)

Jarred C. Heigel, Brandon M. Lane

Abstract

This work presents high speed thermographic measurements of the melt pool length during single track laser scans on nickel allow 625 substrates. Scans are made using a commercial laser powder bed fusion machine while measurements of the radiation from the surface are made using a high speed (1800 frames per second) infrared camera. The melt pool length measurement is based on the detection of the solidus point in the temperature profile. Seven different combinations of nominal laser power (49 W to 195 W) and scan speed (200 mm/s to 800 mm/s) are investigated and numerous replications using a variety of scan lengths (4 mm to 12 mm) are performed. Results show that the melt pool length reaches steady state within 2 mm of the start of each scan. Melt pool length increase with laser power, but its relationship with scan speed is less obvious because there is no significant difference between cases performed at the highest laser power of 195 W. Although keyholing appears to affect the anticipated trends in melt pool length, further research is required.
Proceedings Title
Proceedings of the 2017 ASME International Conference on Manufacturing Science and Engineering
Conference Dates
June 4-8, 2017
Conference Location
Los Angeles, CA
Conference Title
American Society of Engineers Internatinal Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference

Keywords

additive manufacturing, powder bed fusion, melt pool, thermography, process measurement

Citation

Heigel, J. and Lane, B. (2017), MEASUREMENT OF THE MELT POOL LENGTH DURING SINGLE SCAN TRACKS IN A COMMERCIAL LASER POWDER BED FUSION PROCESS, Proceedings of the 2017 ASME International Conference on Manufacturing Science and Engineering, Los Angeles, CA, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=922273 (Accessed March 18, 2024)
Created June 8, 2017, Updated October 20, 2017