On the effect of scanning strategies in the selective laser melting process

Abstract

In the selective laser melting process, one has to strike a balance between power and scan speed. When a small scan speed is used, thermal gradients are important and local solidification can lead to cracks. On the other hand, when high speed is used, the power has to be huge and phenomena due to heat transfer, like delamination or balling, arise. In this paper, we study different possible scanning strategies and we indicate those that lead to homogeneous heating of the part until its melting point. The results are compared to numerical simulations.