Metal vapor micro-jet controls material redistribution in laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

TLDR

The study examines how vapor‑driven entrainment of metal micro‑particles in laser powder bed fusion relates to broader fluid‑dynamic phenomena. Simulations of laser–powder bed interactions combined with hydrodynamic drag analysis model droplet ejection driven by evaporative vapor flow, explaining entrainment in 316 L stainless steel and Ti‑6Al‑4V layers. Experiments and finite‑element modeling show that micro‑droplet ejection in laser powder bed fusion is dominated by vapor‑driven entrainment of particles by ambient gas flow, not by laser‑induced recoil pressure.

Abstract

The results of detailed experiments and finite element modeling of metal micro-droplet motion associated with metal additive manufacturing (AM) processes are presented. Ultra high speed imaging of melt pool dynamics reveals that the dominant mechanism leading to micro-droplet ejection in a laser powder bed fusion AM is not from laser induced recoil pressure as is widely believed and found in laser welding processes, but rather from vapor driven entrainment of micro-particles by an ambient gas flow. The physics of droplet ejection under strong evaporative flow is described using simulations of the laser powder bed interactions to elucidate the experimental results. Hydrodynamic drag analysis is used to augment the single phase flow model and explain the entrainment phenomenon for 316 L stainless steel and Ti-6Al-4V powder layers. The relevance of vapor driven entrainment of metal micro-particles to similar fluid dynamic studies in other fields of science will be discussed.